house with an outbuilding (No planning permission)

[user1468923379]

Hi All,

Went ahead with a property, it's a great one. The survey returned saying there is no planning permission for the outbuilding. The outbuilding (Wooden exterior with plaster board and full heating and plumbing) has got 2 bed rooms and a bathroom). It's been there in the garden for the last 10 - 12 years.

Anyone knows the possibility of regularising the outbuilding. If I get in touch with the council, what are the chances of them saying demolish the whole structure. Without the outbuilding, the property is not worth the asking price.

Thanks a ton!

Dia

[redhat]

Has it been there 10 years or 12 years?

Have you bought it already?

[user1468923379]

Thanks for getting back.

Nope, I have invested a bit financially and emotionally in the property. And yes, the outbuilding (Roughly 500 sq feet) has been there for the last 10 -12 years.

[redhat]

You need to know exactly when they built it.

They should be able to tell you that

[user1468923379]

I have asked the vendor to provide any documents to show when it was built, but again (Say it was built 10 years back), will I be able to approach Council and get a regularisation certificate (After the huge wait and undergoing all the rectification that the Council asks for)?

Thanks

[redhat]

if its more than 10 years

[wowfudge]

Your solicitor is the person to advise on this. It's what you pay them for.

[user1468923379]

Solicitor says Indemnity Insurance would do. But I was thinking more from the point of making the outbuilding legal and thus liveable.

Thanks

[wowfudge]

Ask for details of the policy the solicitor is proposing and have a read of that before you make any decisions or take any action. Don't contact the council about the property before you purchase it (certainly don't give them the address if you do) if you want an idea of what they would do otherwise any indemnity will be invalid.

I thought it was four years - with proof of when construction was completed - to bypass the planning permission rules.

Be aware that once the council is alerted to this property they will want to charge council tax for it as it is a separate dwelling.

[wowfudge]

And there's not just planning to think about, but also building regs. How you choose to proceed will depend very much on how you propose to use the outbuilding.

[titchy]

This bloke had a building for 13 years and had to knock it down...

castle

[mistlethrush]

He'd hidden the castle though so that's different. Possibly the building could have been built with permitted development rights in any case (there are rules on this - and they've relatively recently changed) and then used it on conjunction with the house anyway - the only issue would come if you wanted to make it a separate dwelling I would have thought.

[user1468923379]

Good way to build a castle in a greenbelt :)

I dont mind Council charging 2 council tax once it's regularised. Fingers crossed. I have asked for any proof that could show the age of the outbuilding. Will update the thread with any details when I get them.

Cheers

[titchy]

Not really. He'd hidden it because he thought that was the easiest way to bypass planning permission. He had to demolish it because there was no pp, and the council had told him they wouldn't approve a retrospective application. He didn't demolish as a punishment for hiding it.

Currently the outbuildings have no building regs so cannot be used as a dwelling, and no pp so the buyer could be asked to demolish.

[mistlethrush]

Titchy - a garden office doesn't need planning permission if it comes under a certain size (permitted development) but that doesn't mean that the householder couldn't stick a sofa bed in it and use it as occasional overflow.

[biddleyboo]

I seem to have it in the back of my mind, that non permanent wooden structures are ok without pp so long as no water is plumbed in. Electricity is fine, but water deems it permanent. Could be out of date info, or I may even have dreamed it!!

[user1468923379]

Thanks for all your comments :)

[SocksRock]

He hid it to get round the 4 year rule. Once it had been hidden for 4 years, he revealed it and was promptly told he needed PP. It was upheld that it was 4 years being able to be seen by the public, so the clock effectively started when he took the bales down, not when he built it. The council were well within time to challenge it, and he wouldn't be the first to be forced to demolish an unapproved structure.

[mistlethrush]

Permitted development rights are the thing to look up - you can do quite a bit in your garden (as long as you're not restricted by other constraints) subject to the guidelines set out - have a look at the Planning Portal, or this is quite straightforward here