A LODGE house thought to have been built as a holiday let will be allowed to be used as a family home. 

Alisier Lodge, which is beside the river Usk, at Kemeys Road north of the chainbridge at Llanfair Kilgeddin, between Abergavenny and Raglan, had been the home of the late Claudine Brown since 1996. 

But following her death in 2019 her family had asked Monmouthshire County Council to issue a certificate of lawfulness to regularise the use of the lodge house, which they assumed was built as a holiday let, as a home or “single family residence”. 

As part of the application, which had to show the building had been used as a home for at least 10 years, the family provided a wealth of evidence in support that included statements from local residents and acquaintances of the late Mrs Brown, letters, including medical correspondence, and utility bills as well as retail receipts. 

They also provided correspondence from Monmouthshire County Council over a disabled parking permit and council tax demands including reference to a single person discount that would only be applied to permanent residence. 

As a result the council’s planning department accepted the lodge had been a permanent home for the 10 year period up to the date of the application, made in June this year, and issued the certificate.

Mrs Brown had moved into residential care on a temporary basis in 2018 and her family maintained the home during that time though she died in 2019 without being able to return home.