United Reformed Church Banbury Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX2 7ED Data via plota.co.uk

26/02251/CEU - Cert of Lawfulness - Existing Use Registered

Proposal

Application to certify that the existing use of United Reformed Church as a community arts, cultural, educational, meeting and worship space (Sui Generis) is lawful development. Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
16 Sept 2026
✓
Validated
20 Oct 2026
✓
Consultation
26 Oct 2026
Decision
Expected by 15 Dec 2026

Under consideration

No decision has been issued yet. A decision is expected by 15 Dec 2026.

Comments are open until 25 Nov 2026

Comment on this application ↗

Site constraints 5

Article 4 direction
Houses in Multiple Occupation Article 4 Direction. Named permitted development rights are withdrawn here.
An Article 4 direction withdraws particular permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application needs one here. Not every council has published its directions.
Air quality management area: The City of Oxford
The council has declared the area as failing an air quality objective.
Schemes that add traffic, parking or combustion plant are assessed against the area's action plan and may need an air quality assessment.
Council record ↗
3 listed buildings within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Church of St Michael and All Angels, Grade II, about 40 m from the postcode pin · 3 Grade II
The site itself is not listed. Listed building consent is needed for work that affects the special interest of a listed building, inside or out, on top of planning permission. Setting can be a consideration for buildings nearby; there is no fixed radius.
Show all 3 with distances
Historic England ↗
Also on the record
National infrastructure project about 871 m away: East West Rail - Bedford to Cambridge and Western improvements, at pre-application; Inside the Oxford built-up area.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 27 October 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Planning Inspectorate and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council
Oxford
Application type
Cert of Lawfulness - Existing Use
Postcode
OX2 7ED
Received
16 Sept 2026
Validated
20 Oct 2026
Ward
Summertown
Case officer
Show
Target decision
15 Dec 2026
Decision level
Delegated decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Nicholas Hardyman

Consultation & key dates

Neighbours
26 Oct 2026
Consultation
26 Oct 2026
Comments by
25 Nov 2026
Site or press notice
29 Oct 2026
Statutory expiry
15 Dec 2026
Env. assessment
No
Oxford
Planning Authority Score
1.8/10
Poor
#277 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Oxford is slower than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #261 out of 296. The council extends the time limit on 57% of applications - one of the highest rates in England. Expect your application to take longer than the standard deadline. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (89%) than the national average (90%).

Frequently extends decision deadlines
expect longer than the statutory limit
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Oxford decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
88%
Overall approval rate
Above avg (87%) #159 of 296
89%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #205 of 296
43%
Decided in 8 weeks
Below avg (63%) #261 of 296
57%
Extended time limit
Above avg (41%) #259 of 296
61%
Minor dwellings approved
64 decided (1-9 homes)
100%
Major dwellings approved
5 decided (10+ homes)
75%
Change of use approved
117 decided
1,150
Total decisions
140 refused in the year to March 2026