TECHNICAL BULLETIN
ISSUE 41
SEPTEMBER 2022
WORKING FROM HOME AND PLANNING PERMISSION SAGE V SECRETARY OF STATE FOR HOUSING, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITIES [2021] HILARY GRAYSON BSC EST MAN (HONS), DIRECTOR OF SURVEYING SERVICES, SAVA LUCY BAGGETT, LAW AND BUSINESS UNDERGRADUATE, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
In 2021, the High court case Ricki Sage v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government & London Borough of Bromley [2021] dismissed all grounds for appeal presented by a personal trainer who was running a gym in his garden shed/studio. This was a planning dispute with the Secretary of State for Housing, Local Government and Communities. This article looks at the case from the perspective of residential surveyors. The claimant (Mr Sage) was a personal trainer who had a timber outbuilding with windows in his garden that he used partly as a garden shed and partly as a gym, kitted out with gym equipment including a treadmill, cross-trainer and punch bag. The garden and the shed were accessible via a passage at the side of the house, which is shared with the neighbouring property.
timber constructions available, often being marketed as suitable for home offices etc. and usually described as ‘cabins’ or ‘garden offices’ etc. While described as a ‘shed’, the judgement also noted that it had windows, but no toilet or showering facilities.
It is interesting to note in the judgement that the term “shed” was used. There is now a myriad of garden
Mr Sage used the gym himself and also allowed family and friends to use it. However, since 2016 he also used the gym part of the shed for his business as a personal trainer,
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