Or is someone being petty?!

[Kroot]

We’ve just had some extension work done, and I’ve received a letter saying the planning department have received a complaint saying our new brickwork doesn’t match the existing house. It does! It’s as close as we could get it.

AIBU?
YABU - the bricks are different and the person is right to have complained?
YANBU - the bricks are very similar, the person complaining is being petty (for some unknown reason).

They'll weather.

Complainant is being petty.

Paint the whole lot bright pink, then they will match

They're being petty, that's a great match.

The bricks don't look much different but the mortar is a completely different colour. Even when it is aged I think the new mortar will be lighter.

Is there a law that bricks have to be an exact match? Do you know who complained? I would knock on doors and ask everyone, if one looks shifty, that'll be them 😉

It really is terrible matching, the bricks and mortar are completely different. My opposite neighbour has just done a large extension, the houses are over 100 years old and he has managed to match bricks perfectly. I hasten to add, that it isn’t something I would have thought to complain about had his bricks not matched so well!

They do look completely different and the builder has clearly made no effort to even get the mortar the same colour. Even so, you’re not in a conservation area or national park, from your photos it looks like a fairly modern house and anyone complaining is being incredibly petty.

They look very different, to be fair

They look different to me (texture of brick, colour of brick, the fact that the original mortar is now discoloured) but I wouldn't be petty and report you. I'd just tut under my breath occasionally as I went past 🤣

They look very different to me too, they are totally different bricks with totally different coloured grouting, I am surprised they look the same to ypu or anyone else . I’d imagine in a large scale the difference is quite noticeable, I’d not report you for it though.

Yes under permitted development the materials used need to be visually close to the existing. It doesn’t need to match exactly but it needs to be as close as is reasonable so as to lessen the visual impact. If you do it in different materials then it needs planning permission. That’s for all areas not just conservation areas etc,

its all going to come down to what the planning officer decides. But I think the fact even the grouting is so different and could easily have been done to match may go against the op. Plus bricks like the existing ones are easy to obtain. It would be different if they weren’t. But they are and they are widely available.

I suspect on a large scale the difference is very noticeable and someone’s pissed off about the extension. Hopefully she jist gets retrospective approval.

They look very different but matching the mortar would transform it. Getting it repointed wouldn’t be a huge job and would look a million times better.

They are just jealous. Over time the Colour of the bricks will fade

Are you using jealous to mean something else? Why woul assume that someone who reports a possible planning issue is jealous? Of what?

The OP has no idea who the person is but somehow you know their motive?

Is that a superpower 😁

The bricks look very different to me but it's very hard to match bricks.
Was there a condition on the planning permission that the materials needed to be approved?
But I've seen some awful loft conversions where the new brick of the dormer looks nothing like the old and they've just zig zagged the join. Looks awful. But maybe their neighbours complained at the time too! I think it would have to be an extreme breach of the permission for the council to do anything about it other than being able to say they saw it.

The motivation is irrelevant to be honest, the issue is is it a breach of permitted development and I think the answer is clearly yes, you can buy bricks like the existing ones easily very easily and there was no need to use a different coloured mortar like that.

the question is what will the council do about it, they can do anything from saying it’s fine apply for retro approval and granting it to making it be ripped down. Repointing would go some way to fix the issue

but as said those bricks are very easy to buy travis Perkins sells distressed brick as standard.

There's a small difference but surely that's to do with the age? and honestly it's your house you can have it whatever way you want, ignore the petty twat that complained yanbu

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I’ve sent the enforcement office pictures and will update you once they’ve seen/been.

😂
mental images of someone sitting outside giving my bricks the daggers

😂😂
best post on this thread

Matching bricks is hard. We have a Victorian mix in our 1990's house, which isn't popular any more. We had a real challenge finding some for our extension and once we did, all the neighbours that were planning extensions were knocking to find out what they were!

Your bricks themselves look a close enough match but the mortar is a different colour which is what makes it look so mismatched.

They’re noticeably different but why does it make a difference to your neighbour? What would they have done if you’d rendered it? Oh I know…complain 😆 They sound weird.

The bricks aren't the same.
If you're in a conservation area it may well matter.

They definitely look different, but seriously, but fucking twat neighbours. Imagine having the time or inclination to make a petty complaint like that.

BF (not in planning but related field) says the old bricks are a moulded type that haven't been in fashion for a while and no longer produced. Unsure about the permitted development part as usually works on large scale projects but says that in planning applications it can be specified by the PO that materials must be matched but this is rarely an issue unless the look of the original is significant, which here it isn't. You haven't gone for a quirky design mismatch you've got a modern version of the original. He's surprised a planning officer would even visit over it.