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Judge: "plugging in a microwave" doesn't turn room into a flat [1]

['Rob Beschizza']

Date: 2025-12-31  

A judge in England ruled this week that the presence of a microwave does not turn a single room into an apartment. The St. George Hotel in Great Yarmouth said its rooms were flats after housing officers found that 32 of its 62 rooms were being used to house homeless people. In rooms, stricter housing and safety standards apply, which the hotel presumably does not want to meet.

Judge Johns KC said a room could not "be turned into a flat simply by plugging in a microwave." He added there was "no relevant storage, no food preparation area" and that planning laws were supposed to "protect people in the occupation of their homes, not to encourage them to cook their own meals".

Paul Wells, on the local Conservative-run council, said the ruling "sets a precedent for all local authorities that want to improve housing standards for residents," though the hotel seems able to continually appeal the verdicts—it's latest is apparently their third run at the courts.

The hotel's website depicts basic accomodations, plainly called "rooms" there and on travel sites. Is that a microwave perched on a a bedside table in the Twin Room? I suppose that's a flat, then. If the screenshot below proves irresistable, attractions in and around Great Yarmouth include the famous Pleasure Beach, the historic Time and Tide Museum, the scenic Gorleston Beach and the unique Merrivale Model Village. It's probably a good place to go for the classic English seaside experience of iffy weather, sleazy arcades, arguing with seagulls, etc.

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/12/31/judge-plugging-in-a-microwave-doesnt-turn-room-into-a-flat.html

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