Bit odd. Haven’t come across this situation before.
Might be overthinking this but I am wondering whether categorising the land as residential without consent being granted could cause problems later on. Don’t know enough about planning to answer one way or the other.
Definitely check with your planning section.
If they confirm that planning consent is required for residential use I would insist the owners arrange for this to occur prior to re-categorising and rating residential.
Regards
Trevor
