A couple who were told a mystery farmhouse on the listed buildings register referred to their home – have taken their legal battle against the decision to London’s High Court.
Robert and Tina Barratt bought Hayes Cottage in the village of Stone, Kent, four years ago, believing it was not a listed building. But they were later told by Ashford Borough Council that a house on the register – listed as having a different name and being in a different street – actually refers to their cottage. In March, a county court judge in Medway ruled that the council were correct, but Mr and Mrs Barratt today launched an appeal against his decision. Peter Harrison QC, for Mr and Mrs Barratt, told three senior judges at the Court of Appeal that the property listed on the register – High House Cottage, Corkscrew Lane, Stone-cum-Ebony – bore almost no likeness to the address of their home, as it appears at the Land Registry. He said: “The appellant’s case is that whether a building is ‘included in a list’ of listed buildings should be clear and determinable from the wording of the list entry.”This is important as the list entry is the only publicly available material and what any inquirer as to the status of the building would be shown.” But Charles Mynors, for Ashford Borough Council, observed that both houses and streets change their names with the passage of time, and that as long as the register identified the property in some way, it remained listed. He claimed an Ordinance Survey reference on the listed buildings register shows that ‘High House Cottage’ is the building now called Hayes Cottage. Top judge, Sir Andrew Morritt, sitting with Lord Justice Hughes and Lord Justice Aikens, said it was a ‘very interesting case’. He reserved judgement in the matter, meaning Mr and Mrs Barratt will have to wait until the New Year to find out the result. Speaking outside the court, Mr Barratt said he was fighting the case ‘out of principle’, so that future home-buyers do not suffer the same difficulties.
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