Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring who painted her west London house in red and white stripes has successfully challenged the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s use of a S.215 notice requiring her to repaint it.
The court concluded that Parliament has not sought to prevent landowners, including those in Conservation Areas, from painting their houses in any colour or colours they wish, except if an Article 4 direction has been made. To allow a local planning authority to use S.215 to deal with questions of aesthetics, as opposed to disrepair or dilapidation falls outside the intention and spirit of the Planning Code.
RBKC had ample steps available to it which would have protected amenity, and would have exposed it to minimal cost. Under S.102 it could have issued a notice requiring the repainting of the building. Were it upheld, the level of compensation would be the diminution of the interest in land. On the basis of its own case, that diminution in value must have been effectively nil. There would at worst be a claim for the cost of the repainting.