"Original house as it stood in 1948"

[cat5518]

Hi,

I wondered if anyone knew what the "original house" means for planning purposes. I understand that,

"The term "original house" means the house as it was first built or as it stood on 1 July 1948 (if it was built before that date)".

My situation:

If a [large] building was on the plot in 1950, and replaced by a [smaller] building in the 1960s, could I apply for permission based (percentage increase in overall size etc) on the "original house...as it was first built or as it stood in 1948" OR would I have to apply for permission based on the newer [smaller] building?

Would it make any difference if the [large] building was knocked down completely and replaced in whole by the [smaller building] OR if the [large] building was simply reduced in size - I guess that's a moot point.

Any ideas?

Thanks