Permission for hotel quashed over failure to assess daylight issues properly

Failure to properly assess the impact on daylight at nearby homes of a new hotel led to the High Court quashing planning permission granted by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

It had allowed the proposed hotel, named The Hoxton, on Shepherds Bush Green.

Justine Thornton QC, sitting as deputy High Court judge, quashed this after hearing the case of local resident Sabine Guerry.

Ms Guerry successfully argued that the daylight effects of the new building on her property and her neighbours’ properties had not been properly assessed.

She said the developer’s assessment had misapplied the methodology in the Building Research Establishment (BRE)’s ‘Site Layout Planning for Daylight and Sunlight: A Guide to Good Practice’.

Commenting on the case FTB Chambers, whose barristers appeared, said councillors on the planning committee were not told that the reduction in the daylight distribution of a property was a reason why daylight in the nearby homes may be adversely affected, in addition to reductions in vertical sky component.

The judge said in Guerry, R (on the application of) v & Ors [2018] EWHC 2899 (Admin): “In my judgment the officer's report is flawed by misapplication of the BRE methodology.

“The BRE guide is clear that both the total amount of daylight and the distribution of light within a building are important.”

She added that she was not satisfied that the decision would necessarily have been the same had these errors not occurred.

Francis Taylor Building Chambers said this case followed another recent decision to quash planning permission on the basis of misapplication of the BRE methodology in R (Rainbird) v London Borough of Tower Hamlet.

“These decisions serve as a salutary lesson to developers that technical reports need to apply methodologies comprehensively and selective presentation of the results can ultimately lead to decision-makes being ‘significantly misled’,” it said.

Annabel Graham Paul of FTB appeared for the claimant. Cain Ormondroyd from the same set acted for the council.

Mark Smulian