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81 Elder Road London SE27 9NB

25/04010/FULFull Planning PermissionRefused
Full

Refused on 23 September 2026

Council decision: Refuse Permission2 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 House in multiple occupation (Use Class C4) to Children's home (Use Class C2)

Received
29 December 2025
Public comments
1 · last counted 8 November 2026
Ward
Knights Hill
  1. Received29 Dec
  2. Validated29 Dec
  3. Consult.29 Jan
  4. Target3 Apr
  5. Decided23 Sep

Decided in 268 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is a full planning application for a change of use at 81 Elder Road London SE27 9NB. Lambeth has handled 398 applications of this type. This one was decided in 268 days, 30 weeks longer than Lambeth's typical decision time. The site is in 1 listed building 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. In the absence of robust evidence demonstrating a clear local need for the proposed residential institution (Class C2 use), the change of use fails to justify the loss of the existing House in Multiple Occupancy (Use Class C4) which serves an identified need. Consequently, the proposed development is contrary to Policies H8(A) and H9(B) of the Lambeth Local Plan (2021), which seek to safeguard existing HMOs.
  2. The proposed change of use, by reason of the number of staff and visitors, would result in an increased activity on the site negatively impact the residential amenity of neighbouring occupiers in terms of noise and London planning@lambeth.gov.uk SW2 9QQ disturbance. As such the proposal is contrary to the objectives of policy Q2 of the Lambeth Local Plan (2021).

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

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

Planning application dates

Date validated
29 December 2025
Consultation expiry
29 January 2026
Consultation end
29 January 2026
Neighbour consultation end
29 January 2026
Target decision date
3 April 2026

Applicant and agent

Agent
Box Plans
Agent address
124 City Road London EC1V 2NX United Kingdom

Planning decision

Statutory period
56 days

Additional information

Documents
12
Constraints
1

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)
Also checked, none recorded (24)

flood storage areas, conservation 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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