Shortly after the UK imposed social distancing measures, the Scottish Ministers granted an appeal against refusal of a certificate of lawful use for the siting of a caravan within the garden of a house in Edinburgh.
The basis of the application was that the siting of the caravan for incidental residential use does not constitute development.
The reporter considered that as long as the structure comes within the definition of 'caravan' – in terms of its size and remaining capable of being moved - parking it on land will not generally be operational development.
Whether parking a caravan on a driveway or in a garden is incidental to residential use, however, will be a question of fact and degree depending on the circumstances.
In granting this certificate, the reporter was influenced by the fact that the caravan was not connected to any services and that the space was being used as a study area and playroom, rather than a separate residential unit or for any commercial purposes.
This is a useful decision to consider as the issue of the numbers and types of vehicles being parked up in driveways arises fairly frequently, often as neighbour disputes.
And with stay-cationing looking like the order of the day, month and potentially the year, we may have cause to refer to it more often than we might have expected.
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