A baker in Forest Gate is challenging Newham Council after being ordered to stop operating her home-based business.
Fatima Yusuf has run her cake business, The Bakeress, from her Claremont Road kitchen since 2010. She lives there with her mother and says the business is “my livelihood, my only income.”
Fatima told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We’re literally running a small home business and the council has never had a problem for over ten years.”
The council issued a planning enforcement notice in August, citing a lack of planning permission. Under planning law, a change in the use of a property requires approval, even if no structural alterations are made. The notice followed a neighbour’s complaint and an inspection by council officers.
The enforcement notice stated that running a commercial enterprise in a residential street “undermines the success of nearby designated centres” and caused “unacceptable harm” to neighbours due to noise and disturbance.
Fatima disputes these claims, saying her business has never caused problems. “We never make noise, there’s no car pollution,” she said. She has also collected signatures from 16 neighbours affirming that her bakery has not caused parking or noise issues.
She described the council inspection as “very intrusive,” adding: “They went to my attic, my bathroom, my bedroom, my shed and my late father’s bedroom, which was very private.”
One neighbour, Cathy Stack, defended Fatima and her mother, describing them as “very quiet, pleasant, amenable neighbours.” She said: “They haven’t turned it into a factory, or a kitchen or a shop. It’s still their family home. They are careful to keep it as unobtrusive as possible.”
Cathy added: “Yes, people do stop outside, but they go in, they come out, it’s minutes. You hear a few pans here and there, but you get that noise with people making breakfast. Where’s the evidence that it is causing major disruption?”
Fatima has appealed to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which will gather statements from her, the council, and other interested parties before making a decision early next year.
A Newham Council spokesperson said the authority has a legal duty to enforce planning legislation. “Our enforcement team learned that a home was being used as a commercial premises, without the required planning permission,” they said.
The spokesperson added: “As is standard for such an investigation, the entire house was inspected. The owner was issued with an enforcement notice which includes details on how to appeal, including the option that planning permission ought to be granted for the change of use.”
