The High Court has quashed the planning approval for Signia Living’s 10-storey, 132-home development in Chiswick, London, after it ruled the officer’s report misled the council’s planning committee.
The development, designed by architecture practice SimpsonHaugh, was formally approved by the London Borough of Hounslow in January 2026. Plans would have seen the demolition of an existing five-storey office building constructed in the 1980s and the construction of a part-three-, part-six- and part-10-storey building.
Planning permission for an alternative, smaller 104-home scheme had previously been rejected by the council in 2023, on grounds it failed to provide a suitable mix of housing. Permission was then granted on appeal in April 2024, with the inspector concluding it provided acceptable living conditions and was of high-quality design.
A new application was subsequently submitted in July 2024 for the larger, 10-storey development, which was formally approved at the start of this year.
However, the Old Chiswick Protection Society (OCPS) launched a legal challenge against the approval, claiming the officer’s report gave the council’s planning committee a “misleading picture of the merits of the [original] fallback scheme”.
In recommending approval of the new scheme, the officer’s report carried out a comparative assessment, describing the earlier consented scheme as providing “poor quality of accommodation” and being “not considered good design”.
The error was not corrected at a committee meeting, with legal advice given to members advising them that they did not need to “go into all the details considered by the inspector” and should instead focus on the outcome of the appeal.
The ruling read: “The committee therefore remained oblivious to the fact that the inspector had rejected the officers’ judgements on the living conditions and design quality, still less did it know the basis for the inspector’s decision on those topics.”
The revised scheme would have comprised a mixture of one-, two-and three-bedroom homes, with another 13 affordable homes, including social rented and shared ownership units, as well as four two-bed duplex townhouses.
Proposals also included 3,379 sq ft of commercial space, with a residents’ garden, private balconies and play space, alongside parking for 67 cars and 296 bikes.
Graham Clifton, chair of the OCPS, said: “We did not embark on litigation lightly. We are delighted with the outcome. It’s a resounding victory for the OCPS. The judge agreed that the legal advice to the London Borough of Hounslow’s planning committee on 20 January 2026 was wrong. The decision which followed was unlawful.
“A planning committee cannot simply ignore the conclusions of the planning inspector, who ruled that an earlier scheme of six storeys was acceptable and of good-quality design.”
Signia has been contacted for comment.