Judge rules in latest dispute over Kensington striped house

Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring, the owner of the now-famous striped house in Kensington, W8, has lost a court case over the property. In a ruling at the High Court in London today, Mrs Justice Lang ruled that a property inspector erred when he granted her planning permission to turn the property, on South End, from commercial premises to residential use. Lisle-Mainwaring bought the property in 2012 and applied for planning permission to turn it into a residential property. After a series of appeals, she was granted permission in February this year. However neighbour Niall Carroll, who lives in the adjacent terraced property, appealed. “He opposes the loss of commercial uses in the area generally, and at this property in particular, and the impact of the proposed development on his family and property,” the judge said in her ruling. Carroll’s lawyers argued that the inspector “failed to have proper regard to the material consideration of a possible reversion back to Class B1 office use”. “In my judgment”, the judge said in her ruling, “the inspector’s erroneous approach to their material consideration of potential reversion to Class B1 use may have affected the outcome of the appeals, and it would be inappropriate for me to exercise my discretion not to quash the decision.” The case may be subject to an appeal. Niall Carroll v SS for Communities and Local Government and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring Planning Court (Lang J) 12 October 2016