3.2 meter shed.
Discussion
5 years ago my neighbour erected a garden shed which stands within 1 meter of my boundary wall and also within 1 meter of my stone built outhouse/small barn. The shed is 3.2 meters high and blocks light from the windows in the outhouse.
I was never very happy about it but lived with it as I was friendly with the neighbour. Time passes, that neighbour moves on, a new neighbour moves in, we start thinking about making the outhouse into a studio. To get some light in the place we ask the neighbour to move the shed but he refuses. I check planning and see that 3.2 meters is too high for a shed that is so close to my property and approach our local planning office.
My local planning office informs me that because the shed was erected more than 4 years ago it is immune from enforcement by virtue of the passage of time. As a matter of planning law when development occurs 4 years ago then it becomes immune from action.
I'm surprised by this, does it mean you can build anything you like and as long as nobody complains about it for 4 years you're home and dry ?
I was never very happy about it but lived with it as I was friendly with the neighbour. Time passes, that neighbour moves on, a new neighbour moves in, we start thinking about making the outhouse into a studio. To get some light in the place we ask the neighbour to move the shed but he refuses. I check planning and see that 3.2 meters is too high for a shed that is so close to my property and approach our local planning office.
My local planning office informs me that because the shed was erected more than 4 years ago it is immune from enforcement by virtue of the passage of time. As a matter of planning law when development occurs 4 years ago then it becomes immune from action.
I'm surprised by this, does it mean you can build anything you like and as long as nobody complains about it for 4 years you're home and dry ?
To take some workload off the poor chap I take the liberty of quoting the great man below.
Equus said:
The four year rule applies to all buildings. It's 10 years for land use.
To explain: if you have an existing house, the curtilage is already established as 'residential use'.
If you erect a building within the curtilage and use it for purposes 'incidental to the enjoyment of the house' (ie. the building is used for something that the land has already got permission for - and a domestic garage would be acceptable in that regard), then after 4 years the building would become 'lawful'.
If you erected the same domestic garage, or a house, on an open field (which would have agricultural land use), you're not merely adding a building to the existing use, you're actually changing the use of the land... and in that situation it takes ten years, without enforcement action, for the use to become lawful.
To explain: if you have an existing house, the curtilage is already established as 'residential use'.
If you erect a building within the curtilage and use it for purposes 'incidental to the enjoyment of the house' (ie. the building is used for something that the land has already got permission for - and a domestic garage would be acceptable in that regard), then after 4 years the building would become 'lawful'.
If you erected the same domestic garage, or a house, on an open field (which would have agricultural land use), you're not merely adding a building to the existing use, you're actually changing the use of the land... and in that situation it takes ten years, without enforcement action, for the use to become lawful.
itlab said:
BoggoStump said:
So a wooden shed needs planning permission if it is within a metre of the boundary? never knew that.
only If its over 2.4m highmost sheds are 2.4 or less
Gods, I wish I earned a tenner for every time I had to correct statements on these rules, on here.
It's within two metres of the boundary and it's 2.5m. high.
And it doesn't matter (so far as Planning is concerned) whether the shed is made of wood, brick, or gingerbread thatched with mermaids' pubic hair. A shed is a shed.
TriumphStag3.0V8 said:
And as long as it is less than 30m2 Internal floor area, and not in front of the front elevation of the house.
The 30m2 thing (like the 1m from boundary thing) is Building Regulations, not Planning.There are also other rules, some of which only apply in certain circumstances, but let's try to get the very basics into peoples' thick skulls before we confuse things further?
This should be a sticky at the top. There are going to be more and more questions.
That being said I was hopefully being helpful quoting Equus earlier. He’s one of very few people on here who know what they are talking about and spend the time to explain. I found that quote after less than 30 seconds on a google search for planning 4 year rule.
If we aren’t going to have a whip round for him let’s at least do a quick google before posting.
That being said I was hopefully being helpful quoting Equus earlier. He’s one of very few people on here who know what they are talking about and spend the time to explain. I found that quote after less than 30 seconds on a google search for planning 4 year rule.
If we aren’t going to have a whip round for him let’s at least do a quick google before posting.
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