To report my neighbour for planning breech

[ginnyrose1]

Our neighbours are currently extending their house and have planning permission to do that. However, when we looked the plans before permission it didn't look like the house was being extended closer to ours and would always be in line with the back of our house. Now they have started, it has definitely been extended closer to our house and it a lot wider then it appear in the plans. The house is completely overbearing on ours and we have a lovely view of the brick wall from our dining room. AIBU to want to complain to the council? DH thinks as they have planning permission not to...
Their planning permission also only stated extension work but they have just knocked part of the house down and then build the new house around part of the old house, which they are slowly knocking down as they go along! Is this allowed?

Gabi, I am always very polite to the officers, just venting here .

Never been able to get hold of anyone there after 4, they have always left already. Maybe it varies wildly from county to county?

Perhaps they are doing their work rather than taking phone calls from the public? Lots of which do not need to be made in the first place.

Do they have certain hours to be available to the public and other periods to actually be able to work?

Haha

Lweji - they have duty planning officer(s) in most councils to take the kind of phonecalls that take up significant portions of time for no reason. They will usually be available during core hours. When the core hours have ended, the duty planning officer(s) will do the rest of their work. DPOs are not stationed at their usual desks, my brother spends two days a week at a designated planning desk in reception at his council. These will be the people who take your calls. They do not only work 10-4, that will just be when they are available to the public.

Hope that answers your question. babyganoush - you too.

How do people get away with this, we have had two inspections already on our small extension, have been given various caveats that other extensions haven't. Definitely complain to council they wont say who bit will say a complaint made

If they are doing work within 3 metres of your property they should have issued you with a party wall agreement and, if you'd engaged a surveyor they would be liable for the cost.

I don't know of that's the sort of thing that varies from council to council but it certainly my understanding of from ours.

put a stop to it and check with a surveyor.....look into whether you have legal cover with your house insurance....look up Party Wall Act....it applies....we have had the same issues with our neighbours and its been stopped as they had permission but didnt get a surveyor involved

Just looked up the party wall agreement. I didn't realise they were meant to do this! I have not had anything from them...

If you are reporting a neighbour's breach of planning make sure you're not guilty of the same thing.

I sent an enforcement officer out to a woman complaining about work her neighbour was doing to his listed building. His work (vegetation clearance) was legit; sadly the velux windows she'd put into her listed building were not permitted or appropriate. .. and the lady who phoned to complain about the neighbour'so pergola but forgot to get consent for knocking down her outhouse in the curtilage of her listed building regretted calling us out too!

I don't think I was called out to any other breaches...

I was going to say planning might go down the 'easy for them' route of turning a blind eye... make sure you understand exactly what they tell you.

My neighbour wanted to build a conservatory - found he would need to get planning permission and it was doubtful he would be allowed what he wanted (found this out later).
So he had raised decking built instead (didn't need planning permission at the time -a year or so it would have done -not sure about the law now)
It raised his ground level by 5ft and completely invaded our privacy. I phoned the council to find out what counted as ground level for a 6ft fence - mine or his raised level. They insisted on sending someone out from building control to look at it (I was cringing, neighbour was furious)...the officer phoned me up afterwards and I thought he was telling me there was nothing I could do (and if I wanted a higher fence I'd have to get planning permission.)
Then too many years later someone else from planning saw it (over something else) and said it was illegal - much too close to our boundary (less 50cm away).
Turns out the original officer must have been turning a blind eye. He was very careful what he said to give me the impression I got. Worse when I said it had been seen by BC they guessed who the officer was - he no longer worked for them but was a departmental joke - famed for wanting an easy life...