planning permission or lack of it! ulp

[philv]

Hi,
i have asemi detached house.
Turns out the kitchen extension ans the conservatory were built without planning permission.

The kitchen extension is built right on the boundary,...and would fail the 45 degrees light rule from the neighbours window.
The kitchen goes back a long way so the there is basically a long kitchen wall seperating the two properties.

Now the kitchen was built about 15 years ago.
The conservatory about 8 years ago.

I have to speak to the plannign dpartment.

An i going to gt problems about this?
Could they ask me to take them down even though they are years and years old and buily by a previous owner.
And they wer built before myself or the neighbours moved in.

ANy ideas?

Thanks,

[Zippee]

Why did your solicitor not pick up on this whe you purchased the property?

[_gez_]

Sure the changes weren't covered by permitted development?

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/respon...

[philv]

defnnately not permitted development in any from.
Too close to neighbours window....andtoo large.

Have i got recourse against the solcitor if i get any problems?
Or th eprevious owners (ie a bank as it wa a reposession)?

[a boardman]

is your house listed because there is normally a 4 year time limit.

see this for Immunity from enforcement action (I am sure your council will have the same rules)

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/enforcement...

[Piersman2]

My house had an extension built above the garage when I bought it that it turned out had no permission.

I always intended to knock the whole lot down and replace with a proper extension.

When talking to the planning people I was told that so long as the unapproved build had been there for about 4 or 5 years with no objections, then as far as they were concerned that;s it. No need to apply for retro permission.

[eldar]

Piersman2 said:

My house had an extension built above the garage when I bought it that it turned out had no permission.

I always intended to knock the whole lot down and replace with a proper extension.

When talking to the planning people I was told that so long as the unapproved build had been there for about 4 or 5 years with no objections, then as far as they were concerned that;s it. No need to apply for retro permission.

About right 5 years, but some things can be 10 years. Planning will advise, they don't normally take the piss unless they know they are in the right and can prove it.

[-Pete-]

Why do you have to talk to planning about it? Might be better not to, be ever son nice to all the neighbours, wait a few years. Then a few more, etc

[philv]

i want to knock the lot down and rebuild on the same footprint....a larger extension (not a conservatory any more)

[sparkythecat]

I may have misunderstood, but you say that you're worried that the planning department may make you knock it down.
Then you say that you are going to knock it down anyway and build something else for which you'll require planning permission......

[Piersman2]

sparkythecat said:

I may have misunderstood, but you say that you're worried that the planning department may make you knock it down.
Then you say that you are going to knock it down anyway and build something else for which you'll require planning permission......

Yes but he said the footprint as is would not pass current planning regs... so if he applies to re-build a proper extension he will have to effectivley build on a smaller footprint.

I had a similar argument when I submitted plans to replace mine, I wanted to push the 'new' extension to the max, the planner was going to reject it becuase she thought it too large for the plot.

I spent about 30 mins discussing it with her on the phone explaining that it made no sense for me to re-build an existing st extension that had no planning, with a good extension with permission unless I could make the most of it. And that the garage wouldn't actually be big enough for a modern car if I took her guideline width she wanted.

Anyways, after a pleasant chat I won her round and she put the application forward with a recomendation to approve rather than reject.

So I can appreciate the quandry the Op is in. Stick with what is there which is not what he wants but can't be touched by the planning people now, or, apply for a new extension build and accept that it may have to smaller if it can be approved at all.

I would suggest having a chat with someone from the planning department, they are actually usually quite approachable and generally, if you're pleasant with them, they will try to help as much a they can.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

As long as you can prove it you should be immune from enforcement because the development was done more than four years ago. Doesn't make it legal, just immune from enforcement.

This really should have been picked in your searches when you purchased, I'd be having a word with whoever did the conveyancing.

[Busamav]

philv said:

defnnately not permitted development in any from.
Too close to neighbours window....

actually that is sweet FA to do with it if PD applies.

Give us something to look at and we can give you an accurate idea of what is what .

[philv]

[philv]

Above is the plan as i woudl like.
My place is on the left.
The neighbours are on the right.

I think you can see the large extension i would like.
The footprint is the same.
At the moment half of the large extension is the kitchen. And the other half is a ropey conservatory.

The neighbours have a little kitchen extension.

I think that is clear.

I have the plannign people comeing around next week i think to have a look.

I just wanted to make sure they arent goign to say knock it all down!

As far as i am concerned the new extension woudl be more sympathetic to the neighbours.
It would be a drianpipes width or so set back away from the boundary.
And it woudl look much nicer than the existing carbunkle.

There would be no change in light to my neighbours property.

The last thing...i dont think the conservatory has proper foundations. I think it just lies on the pavement slabs. Is this against building regs?

[98elise]

Just a general question about enforcement, if there is no planning permission I'd assume there were no building regs.

If the council can't enforce for planning, can they enforce for BR's? I aske this because a few years ago we looked at a house with loft conversion (to bedrooms) that didn't have planning or BR's, but appeared to be well built (decent plans/structural drawings etc)

We walked away as I didn't want the grief, and the seller didn't want to get it prior to the sale (as he was moving abroad).

The loft had been coverted over 10 years prior, and I didn't know there was a limit for enforcement!

[Gav147]

philv said:

Above is the plan as i woudl like.
My place is on the left.
The neighbours are on the right.

I think you can see the large extension i would like.
The footprint is the same.
At the moment half of the large extension is the kitchen. And the other half is a ropey conservatory.

The neighbours have a little kitchen extension.

I think that is clear.

I have the plannign people comeing around next week i think to have a look.

I just wanted to make sure they arent goign to say knock it all down!

As far as i am concerned the new extension woudl be more sympathetic to the neighbours.
It would be a drianpipes width or so set back away from the boundary.
And it woudl look much nicer than the existing carbunkle.

There would be no change in light to my neighbours property.

The last thing...i dont think the conservatory has proper foundations. I think it just lies on the pavement slabs. Is this against building regs?

After being stood there 15 years it will now be exempt from planning so they will not make you take it down, as for what they will let you build I'm sure they will give you a pretty good idea of you what you can and can not get through when they come for a visit, have you had a an architect round to give you any advice/ideas on the new extension if not might be worth a call.

As for your conservatory there is every chance it isn't on proper foundations as building regs do not apply to conservatories.

[andye30m3]

I spoke to a planning authority a few weeks ago regarding an extension which had been built on a house a friend was looking to buy

They said that after 4 years there is nothing they can do, I asked if as a potential purchaser it was worth applying for a certificate of lawful development and they said not bother so I'd have though you'll be fine.