Excavating up to pavement

[askman]

Does anyone know of any planning permission / building regs issues surrounding excavating one’s garden which leads to a council pavement in order to level it?

My grandfather is looking to buy a house which has a patch of grass / garden which is around 3-4m wide running the length of the house from approx. 1m below pavement level up to the path.

He wants to flatten this to park his caravan on however I am concerned about the impact this would potentially have on the pavement that runs along it and the structural works required to ensure that the pavement does not collapse which I imagine would involve a concrete retaining wall.

On top of this, because it affects council property, I'd imagine that there would be planning permission and building regs issues around this...

 

[^woody^]

Your grandad will have a common law duty regarding support to any adjacent land, whether it's council land or not. But the fact that it's a public highway would also invoke other legislation should he prevent normal usage of the highway by causing it to collapse or create a trip/fall hazard.

It's not a planning issue for the excavation, but that's not to say that the work itself (creating a hard standing, and or access) does not need planning permission.

Building regulations won't apply.

Parking caravans may be prevented by the deeds or a previous planning permission.