Replacing garages - do i need planning perm?

[alexstephens1]

Hi we have 2 large garages made from wood, they appear as square boxes on our land registry document. We would like to replace them with a new timber frame garage and an office. Are we able to just knock them down and build new timber ones?
They will be in the same position but the office will be a little wider.

Also as they appear on the land registry doc does that mean they already have planning permission in the past?

Thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Depends where they are on the site and their size: https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/43/outbuildings

 

[McAhuna]

Generally the answer is NO - provided you are building more or less the same size and on the same footprint.

 

[^woody^]

Yes, a complete rebuild, or replacement in stages to result in a new building would require permission - unless they are built to the criteria granted by permitted development

 

[alexstephens1]

Thanks.
It's a big garage, 5.5m x 12m and does show on the land registry documents for the property.
So let's say i replaced the garage BUT there were a few small changes, maybe a tiled roof rather than felt, and the back 6.5m turned into an office/shed. I was also going to go with a really solid timber frame (oak or douglas fir)... how would anyone know?
As i say the garage shows on the land registry document so there wouldn't be any surprises for anyone buying the house in the future?
It would just look like it has always been that way.

Your thoughts are very much appreciated

 

[^woody^]

A bit like rebuilding your house then, or speeding home, or killing the bloke across the road ..... how would anyone know?

 

[alexstephens1]

.... or killing the bloke across the road ..... how would anyone know?

We haven't got anyone over the road, no neighbours for 500m or more. Is it ok now?

No seriously how do the councils keep track of changes like this? surely not everyone behaves themselves. I can see that building a house/extension needs to go through all the correct channels but i find it hard to see why having a garage that is falling apart is preferable to a new one on exactly the same footprint.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

As previously mentioned it depends if it complies with the Permitted Development rules or not, which is the criteria by which development must be built to in order to avoid needing planning permission. So take a look at the link that was posted in the first reply to your thread and see if your proposal complies with this criteria, if it does then planning permission is not required, if it does not then planning permission is required.

Once you remove something (ie demolish a garage) there is nothing there, its just an empty space so under planning law its as if there was never anything there to start with.

If your proposal did need planing permission and you went ahead and built it without obtaining permission then several factors would determine whether any action would to be taken by your local authority, can it be seen from the road for example, the more controversial something is the more likely enforcement would be.

 

[^woody^]

Bear in mind that all council's use historic aerial mapping images, which show changes over the years.

 

[alexstephens1]

Thanks all, i think Planning permission is the way to go then.

 

[^woody^]

If you are in a relatively secluded spot and/or there are no busy-bodies likely to poke their noses in, then you could just it.

The rules and consequences are stated above, but weigh that up against their chances of occurring.

The councils don't have time or resources to go mooching around the place or browsing maps, but the info is often there if they want it following a complaint or such like.

But above all, the impact of your new garage will be assessed, and that would in most cases be not worth doing anything about it unless it's in a sensitive area.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Aye what woodhead said. You just gotta consider the risks. But at least now you know the issues.