conservatory planning application

STEVEN MILLS · 2 Jul 2015

Hi guys,i,m new to this but need advice,i built a conservatory on back of my house about 2 years ago,i am selling now and buyers solicitors wanted proof i didnt need planning(ps i didnt apply for it),so i applied to local council with sizes and position,they emailed back saying NOT NEEDED,but i need to apply for notification of an extended home which i did,they contacted all my neighbours in 21 days,they emailed me back to say NOT NEEDED,i contacted building control and got email back saying NOT NEEDED,gave all this info to buyers solicitors but they said that just allows me to build it,i need letter from council to say its OK,went council and they went berserk with me,basically saying HOW DARE you build without asking us first,now telling me i need to apply for FULL PLANNING PERMISSION,surely this cant be right.anybody got any advice for me please?,thanks in advance,STEVEN.

^woody^ · 2 Jul 2015

Just tell the Solicitors that it was built under permitted development. That is enough.

tony1851 · 3 Jul 2015

^woody^ said:
Just tell the Solicitors that it was built under permitted development. That is enough.

But you are not allowing for the ignorance of planning / building regs rules displayed by many solicitors

tony1851 · 3 Jul 2015

@op; when you first contacted the council planning department, it seems from what you say that they did not understand that it was not already built. This is because they applied the 'neighbour consultation' scheme, which you can do for extensions going out up to 6m/8m (depending on whether it's a semi or a detached).
Unfortunately, that scheme is not retrospective, so if you have built out further than 3m (or 4m if detached house), then strictly you need to apply for planning permission.

freddiemercurystwin · 3 Jul 2015

tony1851 said:
But you are not allowing for the ignorance of planning / building regs rules displayed by many solicitors, planning officers and building control officers

Fixed that for you!

STEVEN MILLS · 3 Jul 2015

STEVEN MILLS said:
Hi guys,i,m new to this but need advice,i built a conservatory on back of my house about 2 years ago,i am selling now and buyers solicitors wanted proof i didnt need planning(ps i didnt apply for it),so i applied to local council with sizes and position,they emailed back saying NOT NEEDED,but i need to apply for notification of an extended home which i did,they contacted all my neighbours in 21 days,they emailed me back to say NOT NEEDED,i contacted building control and got email back saying NOT NEEDED,gave all this info to buyers solicitors but they said that just allows me to build it,i need letter from council to say its OK,went council and they went berserk with me,basically saying HOW DARE you build without asking us first,now telling me i need to apply for FULL PLANNING PERMISSION,surely this cant be right.anybody got any advice for me please?,thanks in advance,STEVEN.

tony1851 said:
@op; when you first contacted the council planning department, it seems from what you say that they did not understand that it was not already built. This is because they applied the 'neighbour consultation' scheme, which you can do for extensions going out up to 6m/8m (depending on whether it's a semi or a detached).
Unfortunately, that scheme is not retrospective, so if you have built out further than 3m (or 4m if detached house), then strictly you need to apply for planning permission.

Thanks for replies,when i applied for notification of extended home,i have just checked council website for planning,and it says under my application decision allowed "PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT",i can't understand why i need it now if i didnt need it to start building,its like getting prosecuted for taking something thats free,lol.

tony1851 · 3 Jul 2015

I suspect here that much depends on how you made your initial approach to the council, and whether it was clear or not to them that it was just an enquiry, or could have been a valid neighbour-notification application.

As it's now on the register as Permitted Development, not sure where it stands legally, though perhaps others better-informed might chime in?

freddiemercurystwin · 3 Jul 2015

I vaguely recall a situation whereby a member of the pubic approached the council with an enquiry whereby they asked if a particular development they were proposing would require planning permission or not. The council replied that in their opinion it did not but it had the usual disclaimers attached claiming it was only the officers opinion etc. It subsequently turned out that after the homeowner had built their development that the council deemed it was not PD and required an application, it was rejected and ultimately when it went to appeal the inspector sided with the appellant because the council had said it was PD at the time of the original enquiry, with the inspector sighting that it was reasonable for the homeowner to take this as a definitive decision.

The point being that if they already said PP was not required then I can’t see how they can say otherwise now.

^woody^ · 3 Jul 2015

STEVEN MILLS said:
i have just checked council website for planning,and it says under my application decision allowed "PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT",

Well then, print that out and give it to the Solicitor.

But I can't understand what you mean by this as the council don't record this type of thing, and you say that you have never made an application in the first place

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conservatory planning application

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