15 May 2025

A planning inspector has ruled that an unauthorised house in Great Abington that was built without planning permission must be demolished.  

Following an investigation that resulted in an enforcement notice being served by South Cambridgeshire District Council, the Planning Inspector agreed with the Council’s reasons for serving the enforcement notice and ordered the unauthorised house at Valentine Stables, Great Abington to be knocked down.

In 2014, planning permission was granted to build a replacement stable block and a specialist horse laboratory, with a small upstairs flat linked to the lab use. The plans were approved on the basis that it would be for a countryside business use, with the residential flat only to be used in connection with the laboratory use.

However, even though the outside of the building looked like the approved plans, the inside was very different. A later investigation showed that the inside of the building looked nothing like the approved plans for the lab and business. Instead, it was built and used solely as a residential house from the start, with no evidence that the laboratory use was ever implemented.

The Council issued an enforcement notice in July 2023 requiring demolition of the property and the owner appealed against the notice. However, a decision by the Planning Inspector this month (May) agreed with the Council and its reasons. The Planning Inspector found that:

• The building was constructed as a house from the start, not the lab and flat that had been approved and later converted.
• There was no lab or business running at the site, nor any evidence to show there ever was.
• The house was a full home, not just a place for a worker to stay.
• The owner had also sold other houses on the site.

The house also sits within an area that has an adopted Neighbourhood Plan, which helps protect the unique characteristics of the surroundings.

The Inspector agreed that knocking the house down was a proportionate and necessary measure as the local planning policies had been clearly broken, and keeping the building but just stopping people from living there alone would not be enough.

Cllr Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Lead Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council, commented: "We welcome the Inspector's clear decision, which supports our commitment to upholding planning policies in our Local Plan and the Neighbourhood Plan designed to protect our countryside. This case shows the importance of adhering to the specific uses and conditions that justify development in rural areas. Planning rules are there for a reason – including protecting our countryside, and this decision demonstrates that we will act when those rules are broken."

The house must be knocked down and all waste material removed by 6 May 2026.

The full planning decision can be found on the public access website under enforcements, EN/00019/22.

If you suspect a breach of planning permission has occurred within Cambridgeshire, you should report it using the online reporting form.