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51 Elder Road London SE27 9LY

25/03554/FULFull Planning PermissionRefused
Full

Refused on 2 February 2026

Council decision: Refuse PermissionDelegated (officer decision)4 reasons for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

Change of use from Small HMO (Use Class C4) to large HMO (sui generis), involving conversion of and works to the existing outbuilding to provide two additional bedrooms. (Retrospective)

Received
13 November 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Public comments
10
Ward
Knights Hill
Agent
J Butterworth Planning
  1. Received13 Nov
  2. Validated13 Nov
  3. Consult.15 Dec
  4. Target8 Jan
  5. Decided2 Feb

Decided in 81 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is a full planning application for an outbuilding at 51 Elder Road London SE27 9LY. Lambeth has handled 398 applications of this type. This one was decided in 81 days, 4 weeks longer than Lambeth's typical decision time. The site is in the Bassingbourn conservation area, with 7 listed buildings nearby. There has been 1 other application at this address. In the past year there have been 60 applications across Knights Hill. We hold 1,060 applications in total for the SE27 postcode area.

70% of full applications at London Borough of Lambeth were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.See what's approved near your address

Why it was refused

  1. The proposal would result in the loss of a property capable of providing family-sized accommodation, thereby causing harm to the local housing mix. In addition, it would fail to address an identified local need for the proposed housing type and would exacerbate the existing over-concentration of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the area. Such over-concentration has been linked to adverse impacts on the mix, balance, and well- being of the community, including increased incidents of anti-social behaviour. Consequently, the proposal is considered unacceptable in land use terms and is contrary to Policy H9 of the London Plan (2021) and Policy H9 of the Lambeth Local Plan 2020-2035 (2021).
  2. The conversion of the outbuilding to residential accommodation would, if used as HMO rooms result in London planning@lambeth.gov.uk SW2 9QQ substandard accommodation by virtue of the loss of privacy for future occupants. However by virtue of the functional and physical separation from the main building, the conversion of the outbuilding would result in the creation of two self-contained residential units. These units fail to provide an acceptable standard of accommodation by reason of undersized floor areas, outlook, and privacy contrary to London Plan (2021) policy D6, and Lambeth Local Plan (2021) policy H5.
  3. The proposed development would intensify the use of the site so as to result in an adverse impact on neighbouring occupiers through an increase in noise and disturbance. As such, the proposal is contrary to the objectives of policy Q2 of the Lambeth Local Plan (2021).
  4. In the absence of a S106 agreement, the application fails to mitigate the impacts of the proposed development, as such, the proposal is contrary to the objectives of policy D4 of the Lambeth Local Plan (2021).

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
SE27 9LY
Application type
Full Planning Permission
Scale / size
Small

Planning application dates

Date validated
13 November 2025
Consultation expiry
2 February 2026
Consultation end
15 December 2025
Neighbour consultation end
2 February 2026
Target decision date
8 January 2026

Applicant and agent

Agent
J Butterworth Planning
Agent address
71-75 Shelton Street London WC2H 9JQ

Planning decision

Statutory period
56 days

Additional information

Documents
11
Constraints
1

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Conservation area: ElderwoodNext to the site
  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)
Also checked, none recorded (23)

flood storage areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Lambeth

Contains public sector information from the Planning London Datahub, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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