Decking installation
Discussion
Hi there,
I found the legendary Glassman vs BlokeNextDoor thread whilst doing a bit of research on the issue I'll get onto in a bit, so I was hoping to post here and see if anyone can advise on the problem we have...
A bit of background first... My partner and I bought a house down the road from ours at auction, with a view to doing it up and selling on for some extra pennies. The property is a three storey mid-terrace, built on the side of a small valley, so you walk into the middle floor from the street. to access the garden (about 35m long and 4m-ish wide). The garden slopes heavily from the back of the house down to the bottom of the 'valley' where the is a small stream - I would estimate the height difference from the bottom of the garden to the back door be about 4m, however, the majority of the difference is at the top of the garden.
When we bought the house, there was a small patio immediatey out the back door that had small wall (about three foot high) running parallel to the back of the house. The garden was accessed via some shared steps, that are not in a very good state of repair. Before we bought the house, over the other side of the wall was a shed, which the previous owners took with them.
As we are doing up the house to be one that a young family would buy, we decided that an area out the back of the house would be required, but the small patio (old broken concrete) was both ugly and insufficient. So we decided to take up the concrete, knock down the wall and install decking. The decking extends out from the original patio about three metres and underneath, there was enough room to convert the space into a shed. As the existing steps were far from secure, we decided to also build a new timber staircase along the side of the shed/decking.
The resulting structure is brilliant and everyone that has seen it has commented how they think so. However, our neighbour two doors down has complained to the council and now we have to apply for retrospective planning permission. After having done some reading up on this, it seems that it is highly likely that the PP will be rejected. However, given that we have already spent a considerable sum on this, we obviously want to do everything we can in order to give ourselves a fighting chance! In our defence, I think we have the following things going for us:
> Due to the nature of the houses, you can see far more of the neighbouring gardens from the second and third floors of the house than you ever could from the decking
> As the decking is the same height as the old patio (well, it's about 6 inches higher), then the amount that you can see of neighbouring gardens if you were to stand where the old wall used to be and the end of the decking is pretty much the same
> There is a very similar structure (that looks far worse than ours) two doors down (the other way to the people that complained)
> The garden to the left has high shrubs/hedge running alongside the structure (taller than the rails by some distance)
> The garden of the woman (read busy-body jobsworth) that complained also has high shrubs etc running the full length of the garden, so we can see hardly anything of what they get up to (not that we would want to as they both look like Colonel Gaddafi) even from the top floor window.
Are any above valid points for PP? Any advice would be very much appreciated!I have included some pics to help set the scene. They are a bit out of date, but you get the general idea I hope. Regarding the second one, the sides have been filled in and a door put in to create the shed.
Many thanks
Tim
I found the legendary Glassman vs BlokeNextDoor thread whilst doing a bit of research on the issue I'll get onto in a bit, so I was hoping to post here and see if anyone can advise on the problem we have...
A bit of background first... My partner and I bought a house down the road from ours at auction, with a view to doing it up and selling on for some extra pennies. The property is a three storey mid-terrace, built on the side of a small valley, so you walk into the middle floor from the street. to access the garden (about 35m long and 4m-ish wide). The garden slopes heavily from the back of the house down to the bottom of the 'valley' where the is a small stream - I would estimate the height difference from the bottom of the garden to the back door be about 4m, however, the majority of the difference is at the top of the garden.
When we bought the house, there was a small patio immediatey out the back door that had small wall (about three foot high) running parallel to the back of the house. The garden was accessed via some shared steps, that are not in a very good state of repair. Before we bought the house, over the other side of the wall was a shed, which the previous owners took with them.
As we are doing up the house to be one that a young family would buy, we decided that an area out the back of the house would be required, but the small patio (old broken concrete) was both ugly and insufficient. So we decided to take up the concrete, knock down the wall and install decking. The decking extends out from the original patio about three metres and underneath, there was enough room to convert the space into a shed. As the existing steps were far from secure, we decided to also build a new timber staircase along the side of the shed/decking.
The resulting structure is brilliant and everyone that has seen it has commented how they think so. However, our neighbour two doors down has complained to the council and now we have to apply for retrospective planning permission. After having done some reading up on this, it seems that it is highly likely that the PP will be rejected. However, given that we have already spent a considerable sum on this, we obviously want to do everything we can in order to give ourselves a fighting chance! In our defence, I think we have the following things going for us:
> Due to the nature of the houses, you can see far more of the neighbouring gardens from the second and third floors of the house than you ever could from the decking
> As the decking is the same height as the old patio (well, it's about 6 inches higher), then the amount that you can see of neighbouring gardens if you were to stand where the old wall used to be and the end of the decking is pretty much the same
> There is a very similar structure (that looks far worse than ours) two doors down (the other way to the people that complained)
> The garden to the left has high shrubs/hedge running alongside the structure (taller than the rails by some distance)
> The garden of the woman (read busy-body jobsworth) that complained also has high shrubs etc running the full length of the garden, so we can see hardly anything of what they get up to (not that we would want to as they both look like Colonel Gaddafi) even from the top floor window.
Are any above valid points for PP? Any advice would be very much appreciated!I have included some pics to help set the scene. They are a bit out of date, but you get the general idea I hope. Regarding the second one, the sides have been filled in and a door put in to create the shed.
Many thanks
Tim
Kin Hell!!!!
That is a quite a large structure & I can understand why it might be rejected!
If as you say a retrospective application is likely to be rejected get in touch with your local councillor prior to the application being submitted.
Try and get him on your side.
When the application is submitted he can "call it in" meaning it will go to committee.
The Planning Officer will recommend it for refusal but the local councillors "MIGHT" over turn that decision and approve the application.
Its the sort of last bite at the cherry sort of thing.
Best of luck but as I said at the beginning........ KIN HELL!!!
That is a quite a large structure & I can understand why it might be rejected!
If as you say a retrospective application is likely to be rejected get in touch with your local councillor prior to the application being submitted.
Try and get him on your side.
When the application is submitted he can "call it in" meaning it will go to committee.
The Planning Officer will recommend it for refusal but the local councillors "MIGHT" over turn that decision and approve the application.
Its the sort of last bite at the cherry sort of thing.
Best of luck but as I said at the beginning........ KIN HELL!!!
herbialfa said:
Kin Hell!!!!
That is a quite a large structure & I can understand why it might be rejected!
If as you say a retrospective application is likely to be rejected get in touch with your local councillor prior to the application being submitted.
Try and get him on your side.
When the application is submitted he can "call it in" meaning it will go to committee.
The Planning Officer will recommend it for refusal but the local councillors "MIGHT" over turn that decision and approve the application.
Its the sort of last bite at the cherry sort of thing.
Best of luck but as I said at the beginning........ KIN HELL!!!
Thanks for the replies so far - much appreciated!That is a quite a large structure & I can understand why it might be rejected!
If as you say a retrospective application is likely to be rejected get in touch with your local councillor prior to the application being submitted.
Try and get him on your side.
When the application is submitted he can "call it in" meaning it will go to committee.
The Planning Officer will recommend it for refusal but the local councillors "MIGHT" over turn that decision and approve the application.
Its the sort of last bite at the cherry sort of thing.
Best of luck but as I said at the beginning........ KIN HELL!!!
It is a large structure, yes, but the floor level is no higher than what the roof of a shed would be - it looks a lot better now it has been completed. Are they able to reject it even if there is an almost identical structure two doors down?
Town Councillor!
Parish councils don't hold much clout!
Having said that, you are allowed to attend the Parish Council meeting as and when they discuss your application and you should be allowed to speak to ask for their support.
Its just another box ticked "if" it goes to committee.
Get your local councillor on side ASAP if you want to keep that monstrosity!
Sorry, but..........
Parish councils don't hold much clout!
Having said that, you are allowed to attend the Parish Council meeting as and when they discuss your application and you should be allowed to speak to ask for their support.
Its just another box ticked "if" it goes to committee.
Get your local councillor on side ASAP if you want to keep that monstrosity!
Sorry, but..........
herbialfa said:
Get your local councillor on side ASAP if you want to keep that monstrosity!
Sorry, but..........
I take it you're not a fan then? Like I said, looks a lot better now it's finished... I think the fact I am about a metre below the floor level of the 'shed' underneath when I took the second picture doesn't help matters either...Sorry, but..........
How about giving the counsellor a solution rather than a problem, i.e. maybe saying that you would be prepared to reduce the length of the projection of it.
I know after all the hard work of installing it, it is a bitter pill to swallow when the jealous neighbours stick that oar in, but them rules are rules.
Good luck with it though.
I know after all the hard work of installing it, it is a bitter pill to swallow when the jealous neighbours stick that oar in, but them rules are rules.
Good luck with it though.
CedGTV said:
How about giving the counsellor a solution rather than a problem, i.e. maybe saying that you would be prepared to reduce the length of the projection of it.
I know after all the hard work of installing it, it is a bitter pill to swallow when the jealous neighbours stick that oar in, but them rules are rules.
Good luck with it though.
We have thought about that, and I guess we could alter it without too much extra work... It's just so annoying - there is only one person that has seen it (the person that complained) that has showed any form of dislike (well, two people now...I know after all the hard work of installing it, it is a bitter pill to swallow when the jealous neighbours stick that oar in, but them rules are rules.
Good luck with it though.
)... Apparently, you also now need PP to install steps in your own garden also - WHY?!That will be so that they can control the Building Regs side of things.
Can't be having those steps made out of cream cheese - so to speak.
What about following the camber of the slope and stepping the deck to create a lower terrace, again it does show your willing to work with them.
Believe me it does go a long way to resolution.
Can't be having those steps made out of cream cheese - so to speak.
What about following the camber of the slope and stepping the deck to create a lower terrace, again it does show your willing to work with them.
Believe me it does go a long way to resolution.
notthemessiah said:
It is a large structure, yes, but the floor level is no higher than what the roof of a shed would be
Do you sit outside on the roof of a shed at that height though?notthemessiah said:
Are they able to reject it even if there is an almost identical structure two doors down?
Yes. However if you submit photos showing the other structure in comparison to yours it might help.Edited by Gareth79 on Friday 7th January 11:01
CedGTV said:
That will be so that they can control the Building Regs side of things.
Can't be having those steps made out of cream cheese - so to speak.
What about following the camber of the slope and stepping the deck to create a lower terrace, again it does show your willing to work with them.
Believe me it does go a long way to resolution.
The idea I just had was to move the front of the 'shed' back to the middle support posts and then use what would be the now excess decking in front of the shed at 'ground' level. That's the only way that I can see we could modify the structure. The thing is though that doing that wouldn't alter what we could see of the surrounding area in any way, so seems a bit of a pointless exercise...Can't be having those steps made out of cream cheese - so to speak.
What about following the camber of the slope and stepping the deck to create a lower terrace, again it does show your willing to work with them.
Believe me it does go a long way to resolution.
Spudler said:
Personally i think your clutching at straws.
From what can be seen in the pics i dont see it remaining. Any reason you cant split level the decking?
The whole reason for doing what we did is because we are marketing this as a home for a young family, we wanted a decent area just outside the kitchen where kids could play in relative safety. Introducing a split level would defeat the point of this area, what with steps to fall down etc... The only way to modify the decking that makes sense is to bring it back by about 1.5m so that it doesn't extend so far.From what can be seen in the pics i dont see it remaining. Any reason you cant split level the decking?
I will speak to our local friendly councillor tho and see what they say...
notthemessiah said:
Spudler said:
Personally i think your clutching at straws.
From what can be seen in the pics i dont see it remaining. Any reason you cant split level the decking?
we are marketing this as a home for a young familyFrom what can be seen in the pics i dont see it remaining. Any reason you cant split level the decking?
If a family bought the house they could gate off the lower level.
Dont forget to aim for first time buyers and professional single/couples, just a thought.
Spudler said:
You still could.
If a family bought the house they could gate off the lower level.
Dont forget to aim for first time buyers and professional single/couples, just a thought.
Oh, the house will appeal to those demographics also, but it would be a lot more marketable if we can keep the decking as it is, which is unlikely...If a family bought the house they could gate off the lower level.
Dont forget to aim for first time buyers and professional single/couples, just a thought.
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