The owner of 12 Pavilion Drive has been using the building at the rear of the address as a residential property “for more than four years”, according to council documents.
However, an application for a “certificate of lawfulness” for the outbuilding to be used as a home permanently has been refused by Southend Council.
The applicant claimed they had a right to a lawful development certificate – confirmation the use of the building is lawful – because the outbuilding had been used as a permanent home for four years.
However, council officers disagreed and cited previous uses which showed the building used as an office.
David Garston, Tory candidate for the Prittlewell ward in the upcoming local elections, warned residents about being “foolhardy”.
He said: “The planning department do have pre-application facilities where people can go and discuss things with them. It really is foolhardy to do things without the necessary consent. Neighbours are likely to complain and then the council has to go through the next procedures.”
A report by town planners shows the building had been used as a car showroom reception area and was later turned into accommodation before subsequently being let to various tenants since 2022, despite a lack of planning permission.
The property has a chequered planning history, with Southend Council refusing permission for it to be used as a “live-work” unit in 2017. A further application for a certificate of lawfulness for the building to be used as residential annexe was refused in 2020.
A report shows an officer visited the unit in 2017 and photos showed a desk, a computer and a meeting area with a car sales logo and a kitchen bed and toilet.
In the latest application, a photograph taken in 2018 submitted by the applicant shows it was being used as living accommodation and windows and doors had been added.
But officers concluded there was insufficient evidence provided to prove the unit had been in continuous residential use for four years.
Simon Jones (Confelicity), RJ Learmouth (Green), Leanne Kelly (Ind), Chris Webster (Lab) and Pierre Craddock (Lib Dem) are running to be elected in the Prittlewell Ward at the May 2 election.