Outbuilding height question please

[ipbr21054]

Please excuse my rough sketch but it gets the point across.

I’m looking to know where a measurement is taken from with regards the height of a wooden outbuilding which didn’t require building regs & was built say 13 years ago now.

The outbuilding at the rear is about two foot away from the fence. So I’ve read that the height is then 2.5 meters assuming what I’ve read is correct & current.

It is used only for storage like bikes & toys etc & no sleeping equipment etc is within it or even chairs/sofa.

The rear garden where it is situated falls away as you go down the garden hence my unknown place to measure.

The outbuilding is slightly higher at the front than its rear to allow rain water to run away.

So if I were to measure from roof at the front being the highest point, do I then measure to the horizontal point being AC or do I measure to D which is the high part of the garden or B where you start to go down the garden.

I know A & C are the same horizontal line & that makes up the actual outbuilding but I just marked it up like that anyway, The line where you see A & C is the actual floor of the outbuilding.

Below that line is say the base which is short wooden stilts on stone blocks/pillars to keep an air flow below it & keep it up off the floor.

There is wooden cladding all around the base to cover the stone blocks /pillars etc to then finish its appearance off as opposed being able to look straight under it.

Roof to outbuilding floor is A C
&
Roof to ground is either D or B depending where it’s to be measured due to garden falling away.

Many thanks for your time.

 

[Wayners]

It's the highest land point to roof I thought.
You can dig down inside for more internal height though as they measure outside.

Dig down level maybe?

 

[ipbr21054]

Its already there & has been for 13 years.

So you are saying from my picture in post #1 its to be measured from roof to point D thus regardless on the garden falling away

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Why does it matter if it was built 13 years ago? It's well beyond the time frame by which any planning enforcement can be applied.

 

[ipbr21054]

This is something that i dont know hence why i mentioned it.

Do you know then what the time frame is ?
5 years 10 years ?

Just so i know.
Thanks

 

[Wayners]

10 years plus it's too late to enforce

 

[ipbr21054]

Many thanks for the reply

Have a nice day

 

[ipbr21054]

Just found the exact date it wasn’t 13 years.

August 2015
So this August it’s been 11 years.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

AFAIK it's the 4 year rule. Not the 10 year rule. In anycase you are beyond the 10 year period anyway.

 

[ipbr21054]

Cheers

 

[Wayners]

@freddiemercurystwin

It's 10 years now I thought as used to be 4?

 

[geraldthehamster]

It's 4 years for development, for something that old. It changed in 2024 to 10 years for anything completed after that

 

[ipbr21054]

Hi,
With regards my original post.

Ive have since received an offer for the property & have accepted.
Paperwork back & forward as you would expect.
The survey has been done & buyers solicitors have just sent this email.

The item i refer to in this thread is this wooden studio hence my questions about height etc on my first post.
Replies here were the 4 year rule & also 10 year rule was mentioned but as built / erected more than 10 years all is fine but they have mentioned 20 years ?

The paperwork they mentioned attached is like 20 pages long.
Can you simply advise what it is they refer to as the indemnity policy ?

Many thanks


We note the erection of the timber garden studio remains in the enforcement period for breach of covenant (ie it is not over 20 years old) . Please confirm that the seller will meet the cost of the attached indemnity policy on completion to correct the position ie £89.49.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

An indemnity is merely an insurance policy that covers your legal costs relating to any prosecution costs you might be liable for if the planners decided to prosecute the new owners for a breach of planning. Which won't happen because it's beyond the timeline.

20 years is a nonsense. However in my experience solicitor's have little to zero understanding of the actual laws surrounding this and will insist on a pointless indemnity no matter what actual legislation they are shown or you tell them and they will merely hide behind the 'mortgage provider of the seller insisting on an indemnity' anyway. So I suspect you will either have to cough up and chock it down to one of those things or dig your heels in and ask the buyer to pay it and see who cracks. I coughed up because in a couple of years you really won't give a crap about £90 in the midst of a house sale and during a house sale there's a ton of other crap to deal with too.

The legislation is here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcement-and-post-permission-matters#planning-enforcement--overview

And even if they accept the ten years (I believe it is 4) of course then they will ask you to prove when it was built .....

 

[ipbr21054]

So pay £90 & should anything happen in the future for the new buyer that then lives here the insurance will pay to fix it correct ?

Like i say nothing has happened so far so what's going to happen in the future.

I agree they no nothing, listen to this.

They said in an email did i tick the box for question 16.1a in error ????

I looked at 16.1a & i selected YES
The question was, Am i to leave the property on the day in question.
I replied surely the answer can only be YES or advise otherwise.
No reply since.

I have a post on Facebook showing a date when it was completed & this is my proof its outside of 4 & 10 years.