sorry about the title, it must be the most unhelpful one ever submitted. this is probably going to be a bit of a major essay too 
I'm looking to put an offer in for an end of terrace house (it's a row of 3) and I'd like some advice on some alterations that the current owners have built.
they've done a loft conversion, build a fetching brick fence with gates at the front and put what they call a "lean-to" - which is L shaped and runs the full width of the back of the house and up the side of the house to the side gate (which is level with the front of the house). The back wall is just flyscreen but the roof is felt, the ceiling has downlights, the side wall that has replaced the fence with the neighbours appears to be brick and the floors are solid oak floorboards (as you can see, not what you'd normally think of as a lean-to). if the flyscreen was actually a solid wall, it would be a great internal area.
when I checked the council's planning site, none of these have been given any kind of permission - there's only the original planning permission for the terrace construction.
they've been there for at least 3 years and the front fence is road facing and the owner managed to get the neighbours to agree to also have theirs built so I assume there won't be an issue around getting some kind of retrospective permission for this
the loft conversion appears to be fine - except perhaps for an issue with the stairs. My feeling is they might not meet the standard for stairs as the treads are shallow and the risers appear to be a little higher than they should be.
my main concern is this lean to. I haven't had a chance to properly look at it yet but it appears to go from boundary to boundary - both the neighbours should have known when it was built and obviously haven't said anything to the council but after doing some searching on the web I don't know if the 4 year rule will apply since when the owners converted the side access to a room, they left the side gate - so from the front it just looks like a high gate.. I think if I were the council I'd consider it to be hiding.
I know I could just buy it and hope no one ever knows but what I want to do is turn part of the back bit of the lean-to by the party fence into a utility room. Assuming the neighbour agreed (and the neighbour didn't complain to the council about the loft conversion which is on their wall, nor the lean-to when it was built), I'd assume the utility room would be fine with the council since it won't jut out any further than what is currently there (which appears to meet the size limitations for extensions). The issue really is around the side extension.
my instincts are to run, as this looks to me like a drama waiting to happen. The problem is that the house is perfect for my needs and after looking for probably 2 years this is the only place I've found that I actually am interested in.
why is life never simple?
So, any advice would be welcome. In an ideal world I'd hope the council would just say that I could replace the gate with a proper brick wall/door and give me permission to change part of it at the back to a utility room. My fear though is they'd want me to rip down the side bit - which would mean taking down all the lean-to as it's L shaped and appears to be all one structure. Then there's the issue with the loft conversion and the stairs..
I'm looking to put an offer in for an end of terrace house (it's a row of 3) and I'd like some advice on some alterations that the current owners have built.
they've done a loft conversion, build a fetching brick fence with gates at the front and put what they call a "lean-to" - which is L shaped and runs the full width of the back of the house and up the side of the house to the side gate (which is level with the front of the house). The back wall is just flyscreen but the roof is felt, the ceiling has downlights, the side wall that has replaced the fence with the neighbours appears to be brick and the floors are solid oak floorboards (as you can see, not what you'd normally think of as a lean-to). if the flyscreen was actually a solid wall, it would be a great internal area.
when I checked the council's planning site, none of these have been given any kind of permission - there's only the original planning permission for the terrace construction.
they've been there for at least 3 years and the front fence is road facing and the owner managed to get the neighbours to agree to also have theirs built so I assume there won't be an issue around getting some kind of retrospective permission for this
the loft conversion appears to be fine - except perhaps for an issue with the stairs. My feeling is they might not meet the standard for stairs as the treads are shallow and the risers appear to be a little higher than they should be.
my main concern is this lean to. I haven't had a chance to properly look at it yet but it appears to go from boundary to boundary - both the neighbours should have known when it was built and obviously haven't said anything to the council but after doing some searching on the web I don't know if the 4 year rule will apply since when the owners converted the side access to a room, they left the side gate - so from the front it just looks like a high gate.. I think if I were the council I'd consider it to be hiding.
I know I could just buy it and hope no one ever knows but what I want to do is turn part of the back bit of the lean-to by the party fence into a utility room. Assuming the neighbour agreed (and the neighbour didn't complain to the council about the loft conversion which is on their wall, nor the lean-to when it was built), I'd assume the utility room would be fine with the council since it won't jut out any further than what is currently there (which appears to meet the size limitations for extensions). The issue really is around the side extension.
my instincts are to run, as this looks to me like a drama waiting to happen. The problem is that the house is perfect for my needs and after looking for probably 2 years this is the only place I've found that I actually am interested in.
why is life never simple?
So, any advice would be welcome. In an ideal world I'd hope the council would just say that I could replace the gate with a proper brick wall/door and give me permission to change part of it at the back to a utility room. My fear though is they'd want me to rip down the side bit - which would mean taking down all the lean-to as it's L shaped and appears to be all one structure. Then there's the issue with the loft conversion and the stairs..
