JMS Trust

JMS Supported Living Trust is a registered charity in England and Wales, number: 1179606.

  1. Advice
  2. Certificate of Lawfulness

Certificate of Lawfulness

For some properties becoming supported living means the property needs to have an official change of use with the planning department. To get this confirmed you need to get a Certificate of Lawfulness. This provides official confirmation from a local planning authority that a proposed or existing development is lawful. It essentially serves as proof that planning permission is not required or that a specific development is permitted.

Certificate of Lawfulness is difficult in that is a balance between keeping neighbours happy and our young men having the right to live where they want to live. I felt like I was going under the radar applying for it, people generally don’t understand supported living, it often felt like explaining it to them gave them a chance to raise complaints rather than gain support. We found out about this through local commissioners, otherwise we wouldn’t have known about it.