Neighbours putting up garden building & renting it out

Neighbours putting up garden building & renting it out

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stair

Original Poster:

20 posts

171 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
We're on pretty good terms with our neighbours. A little while back they told us that they would be putting up a wood framed "Summer house" in their back garden next to the fence with our garden for them to use as a study/office. They put up a pretty large building - I was a little surprised when I saw them plumbing it into the sewer system and putting in a toilet, but just shrugged it off.

Winding forward a few months, and it's pretty obvious now that they are acually renting the place out as a flat. It appears to be short leases - there are different people coming and going all the time.

Now I'm in two minds what to do. I know that it's illegal to use a building like that as a dwelling place without planning permission (which probably wouldn't be granted if they tried). On the other hand it hasn't caused us trouble at the moment (except a bit of noise, but nothing out of hand.)

What would people recommend? I can't afford to have a "Neighbour dispute" as it would affect our ability to sell our house when the time comes, so I'm reluctant to approach them directly.

Cheers

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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ask for 50% of the income, if they refuse dob them in

spookly

4,009 posts

94 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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Have you looked to see if they have listed it on Air BnB?

That might be what they've done... and would explain the quick turnover of multiple occupiers.

bigandclever

13,750 posts

237 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
stair said:
Winding forward a few months, and it's pretty obvious now that they are acually renting the place out as a flat. It appears to be short leases - there are different people coming and going all the time.
Are they airbnb'ing? 'Shedcations' are a thing.

ETA ^^^ great minds smile

stair

Original Poster:

20 posts

171 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
spookly said:
Have you looked to see if they have listed it on Air BnB?

That might be what they've done... and would explain the quick turnover of multiple occupiers.
I did have a look a few weeks ago! Couldn't find it at the time, but we're near to a Uni campus, so it may be they have it listed there.

SmoothCriminal

5,047 posts

198 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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Contact the council anonymously I wouldn't want to confront them face to face as that will just cause agr

ClaphamGT3

11,269 posts

242 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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If it's not causing any real disturbance, I would applaud their enterprise and get on with your life - at least they haven't put feral teenagers in it like one of our near neighbours did with their garden room!

irocfan

40,152 posts

189 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
ClaphamGT3 said:
If it's not causing any real disturbance, I would applaud their enterprise and get on with your life - at least they haven't put feral teenagers in it like one of our near neighbours did with their garden room!
this ^^^ if it's not causing any ag what's the problem?

Devil2575

13,400 posts

187 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
ClaphamGT3 said:
If it's not causing any real disturbance, I would applaud their enterprise and get on with your life - at least they haven't put feral teenagers in it like one of our near neighbours did with their garden room!
This. Ignore and get on with your life.



benjijames28

1,702 posts

91 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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If it's not causing u any problems, litter, noise etc... Then why bother grassing?

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

185 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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Keep it in the bank until they do anything to annoy you.

stair

Original Poster:

20 posts

171 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
ClaphamGT3 said:
If it's not causing any real disturbance, I would applaud their enterprise and get on with your life - at least they haven't put feral teenagers in it like one of our near neighbours did with their garden room!
Doing nothing has been my approach so far, so that makes sense.

I did read somewhere that if a place without planning permission stands without objections for a number of years it is deemed to have permission by default. Anyone know if that could apply in this case? That would change my approach if it did.

TroubledSoul

4,589 posts

193 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
Might not be causing any problems now, but what if some tts turn up at some point and start making life unpleasant? By that time, it might be too late to do anything about it?

That's the only thing that I'd be worried about to be honest.

Lurking Lawyer

4,534 posts

224 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
stair said:
I did read somewhere that if a place without planning permission stands without objections for a number of years it is deemed to have permission by default. Anyone know if that could apply in this case? That would change my approach if it did.
Not my specialist field but I would imagine the clock you refer to can only start running once the planning authority has, or could reasonably be expected to have, knowledge of the infringement.

Pretty sure that was the crux of the case in the news last year about the guy who had built a bloody great castle-like house without planning permission but had "hidden" it behind a big wall of hay bales so it wasn't visible from the public highway. He was trying to run out the clock but the court was having none of it.

Tom_C76

1,923 posts

187 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
Lurking Lawyer said:
stair said:
I did read somewhere that if a place without planning permission stands without objections for a number of years it is deemed to have permission by default. Anyone know if that could apply in this case? That would change my approach if it did.
Not my specialist field but I would imagine the clock you refer to can only start running once the planning authority has, or could reasonably be expected to have, knowledge of the infringement.

Pretty sure that was the crux of the case in the news last year about the guy who had built a bloody great castle-like house without planning permission but had "hidden" it behind a big wall of hay bales so it wasn't visible from the public highway. He was trying to run out the clock but the court was having none of it.
Yes, because he had actively sought to hide the building. But if this garden room/shed has been built in a garden without trying to hide it then the clock starts when it is built.

stair

Original Poster:

20 posts

171 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
Tom_C76 said:
Lurking Lawyer said:
stair said:
I did read somewhere that if a place without planning permission stands without objections for a number of years it is deemed to have permission by default. Anyone know if that could apply in this case? That would change my approach if it did.
Not my specialist field but I would imagine the clock you refer to can only start running once the planning authority has, or could reasonably be expected to have, knowledge of the infringement.

Pretty sure that was the crux of the case in the news last year about the guy who had built a bloody great castle-like house without planning permission but had "hidden" it behind a big wall of hay bales so it wasn't visible from the public highway. He was trying to run out the clock but the court was having none of it.
Yes, because he had actively sought to hide the building. But if this garden room/shed has been built in a garden without trying to hide it then the clock starts when it is built.
I'm very much not a lawyer, but this is exactly my concern. I'd be happy to live & let live (as long as the tenants are considerate), but if there's some kind of legal clock running in the background I must report them

Riley Blue

20,912 posts

225 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
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Have the neighbours applied for planning permission to build in their back garden and had it refused? This sounds like it could be a way of circumventing such a decision in future years. I'd be very aware of the consequences of leaving it as it is.

Lurking Lawyer

4,534 posts

224 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
OP, you could always phone the planning department on a no names basis to ask what the position is in relation to works which you believe permission should have been sought for but wasn't.

If that confirms what seems to be the position in relation to the 4 year limitation period running from the date of construction, in the absence of deliberate concealment, you then need to decide whether you want to rock the boat with your neighbours.


Edited by Lurking Lawyer on Tuesday 11th October 13:39

Slushbox

1,484 posts

104 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
My neighbours did exactly this to their Grade II listed property. They told me they were going to put up a 'shed' and put up a brick-built Swiss Chalet style cottage with a kitchen & loo.

All hell broke loose when the other neighbours reported them to the Planning people, resulting in a neighbour-war.

I was renting at the time so just moved out.

You can always phone the planning department and ask for details about the new building next door. Planners are usually quite helpful.

Tom_C76

1,923 posts

187 months

Tuesday 11th October 2016
quotequote all
Slushbox said:
My neighbours did exactly this to their Grade II listed property. They told me they were going to put up a 'shed' and put up a brick-built Swiss Chalet style cottage with a kitchen & loo.

All hell broke loose when the other neighbours reported them to the Planning people, resulting in a neighbour-war.

I was renting at the time so just moved out.

You can always phone the planning department and ask for details about the new building next door. Planners are usually quite helpful.
No need to phone if all you want to do is check, all planning applications, whether approved or rejected, are on the council website. Beyond that, if you actually want the planners to act you're likely to need to email their enforcement team, as they tend not to have time to act on every breach unless pressed.