Would IBU to ring the council about next door's conservatory

[LittleWaveyLines]

... that is being put up on the end of their extension, which already blocks the light from our garden. The new conservatory will then extend almost half the length of our garden.

I've check the rules and you don't need permission if the new single storey extension goes more than 3m from the original house in a semi.

I'm really annoyed, but also a bit scared as he can be very aggressive...

So.... Dob them in or not? I've got to live here after all, but it might devalue out house!

Check the rules again.. I am sure that sort of building needs permission.

They need permission, sorry I worded it badly. They only don't need it if it extends no more than 3m from ORIGINAL house. This is being put on an extension so they need permission.

I thought the rules were about the square footage of the extension. And it's the total of all the extensions to the property that counts. So if they are tacking a conservatory onto an existing extension, you have to add all the floor area up from both to see if it needs permission. Certainly worth a call but be warned, council planning departments work at glacial speed :)

You can only extend the original footprint of the building by a set amount. This may have been exceeded if they are extending from an extension. Check with the council - I would!

They probably have used up the pd (permitted development) rights in terms of extra space allowed - so worth ringing the enforcement section of the council planning department

Yes, contact the council - of course.

He can be aggressive? Well if he becomes so, I'm afraid that that will end up being a problem on top of the conservatory... a problem for HIM. Because you'll report him for that too, yes?

Well, one of the rules used to be that you needed permission to extend if all extensions when added together exceeded 70 sqm (about the size of a double garage. Less (50 sq metres if you are in a Conservation area).

I bellieve there are now new regulations though, check with the following link and find out for sure.

www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/

Contact the council. There's no need for you neighbour to find out who has grassed him up (if indeed he has broken regulations).

There are some planning whizzes around on MN - hopefully one of them will spot this and give more specific advice :)

he will need building regs but not planning permission, so should still have a building officer you can discuss it with. but you can't object like you can permission just make sure it follows the rules.

According to the conservatories interactive guide in the planning portal they need permission.... Aaaargh!

I am a planning officer. pantspantspants - you are wrong. Conservatories often need planning permission and it sounds like this one does. However, they don't generally need building regs.

OP - phone the Council and enquire politely whether your neighbour has planning permission, since you are surprised that you weren't notified about the application. They will investigate. People make calls like that all the time and you are perfectly entitled to have the impact on your property considered.

If your neighbour gets aggressive and guesses it was you, smile sweetly and say that you just phoned to check why you didn't get a record. It never occurred to you that he would have broken the rules ... :-)

It will extend about 8metres from the original house with the existing extension

Oooo AChickenCalledKorma Thank you! So we would have been notified normally?

Yes, you should have had a letter asking if you had any objections to the proposed work. So should the neighbours on the other side.

korma In our area a less than 3m extension doesn't require planning. We have recently build within cm of this, all legally. We also paid for a letter from the planners at start of build to confirm this. our extension is now complete and signed off and neighbours are happy.

Yes but this is 3m on an already 5m extension

pantspantspants.... you're not reading the posts properly.

Sorry didn't see on top of an existing extension. With ours conservatory and extension were used interchangeably by the planners much to DP annoyance. so I seem to be reading like that now.

It's going to be huge :( Trying soooo hard not to get stressed about it. DP thinks we shouldn't ring the council as it would cause too much grief...

Don't get stressed - phone the council. I can't see how they'd be allowed to put up something so large without you being notified, so it seems unlikely they have permission.

Ps, imho DH's being a wuss! Stand up for yourself :o

LTF agree with everyone else, call the council now, come on.......we'll hold your hand!

Phone the council and then leave the council to it. If your neighbours have broken the rules then the council will deal with it.

Which will cause more grief:

• calling the Council and possibly dealing with your neighbour's reaction
• not calling the Council and living with the conservatory for years to come?

Only you and your DH can answer that!

And yes, it is normal practice to write to immediately adjoining neighbours to let them know that a planning application has been submitted.

I should also point out that, if it does need planning permission (and he hasn't got it) the Council may give him the opportunity to make a planning application. They will consider that in the same way as they would if he'd applied properly in the first place. So it is possible that he will end up with permission and you'll be no better off. But you would get the chance to express your views and a planning officer would examine it to see whether it has an unacceptable impact on you. They will have guidelines about what is acceptable in terms of the effect on neighbouring properties.

I complained about next door's extension, which is clearly in breach of permitted development. Council eventually agreed that I Was right, but have refused to take enforcement action. Too costly.
I'm going to build a fecking carbuncle in my garden now I know the council will do nothing about it

Fingers crossed you don't live in Cambridge