20/00999/FUL

1 Harefields Oxford OX2 8HG

19 May 2020

Replacement of garage door with 1no. window in association with conversion of garage to habitable space.

The brief and unhelpful Design & Access statement says that the application is simplistic, which we would agree with but not what they mean.

In 2015 retrospective permission for change of use from dwelling house to HMO was given and permission granted to insert a window into the former garage gable wall. The window was never inserted.

The current drawings indicate that the garage had already been converted into a ‘habitable’ room, presumably a bedroom (not a ‘reading room’ as stated in this application), by building a single thickness brick wall short of the garage doors. The resulting space sans window would be very dark.  Thus replacing the door with a window would improve the accommodation but the type of window is a crucial factor, a gable window would enhance the application.