Are Striped Houses Illegal?

Apr 29, 2015

Written By Billy Sexton, Editor, AllAboutLaw.co.uk

This is probably the most stereotypically West London news nugget you’ll hear all year. The owner of a house that has been painted with red and white stripes has been ordered to repaint it.

Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring has been served with an order from Kensington and Chelsea council telling her that she must repaint the house back to plain white. Outraged neighbour Saskia Moyle has been quoted in the national press as saying: “It’s very fluorescent and very garish. Without sounding very pretentious, it isn’t very Kensington. It’s more Camden or something like that.” And no, we didn’t make that quote up.

Beyond the initial chuckles and the strongest reinforcement of a stereotype since Nick Clegg proved that politicians break promises, the story raises some interesting legal issues.

First and foremost, a section 215 notice has been served. Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local planning authorities have the “Power to require proper maintenance of land” and “If it appears… that the amenity of a part of their area, or of an adjoining area, is adversely affected by the condition of land in their area, they may serve on the owner and occupier of the land a notice under this section.

“The notice shall require such steps for remedying the condition of the land as may be specified in the notice to be taken within such period as may be so specified.”

But does a house that has been painted with stripes adversely affect the condition of land? After all, the best guidance notes surrounding section 215 outlines how the Act “provides a local planning authority with the power, in certain circumstances, to take steps requiring land to be cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area.” The key words here are “cleaned up”. In a traditional interpretation, you would assume that if land needed to be “cleaned up” it would not be well kept, would be shabby and perhaps even derelict.

However, Kensington and Chelsea council is making the most of the fact that, “The use of s215 by LPAs is discretionary and it is therefore up to the LPA to decide whether a notice under these provisions would be appropriate in a particular case, taking into account all the local circumstances.”

Or are they?

Rather, the council are taking into account the fact that the house is in a conservation area. The law surrounding conservation areas is straightforward, with them defined as “areas of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance” under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Therefore, even though in a normal situation you would be allowed to paint the front of your house (it is your house after all), because this particular property is in a conservation area, it is subject to rules set out in The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995. In section 4(2), it is outlined that “any particular development described… below should not be carried out within the whole or any part of a conservation area unless permission is granted”. Lo and behold, “painting of the exterior of any part, which fronts a relevant location” is prohibited.

Therefore, on this occasion, a striped house is illegal.

Blog