Neighbours Garden Office

[Soontobesingles]

My neighbours have recently started having work done to add an office/summer house thing to their garden. No planning permission and it is absolutely massive - to the point it will put 1/2 my lovey sunny garden in shade. I have told them that it is too high and they need planning permission. Builders insisting they don’t as something to do with a slope in the garden but rules are about height from foundations. Anyway, I have said I will report if it isn’t sufficiently reduced and both neighbour and builders are going mad saying £1,000s already spent on materials and plans, labour etc. AIBU to say I don’t care an will report? My garden is my sanctuary and many of my plants will die if shaded year round.

Have you considered contacting your local councillor who is on the planning committee? I know of instances where this helped as they visited the site, along with a planner to inspect the construction.

I work in this area OP so just want to give you an idea of what you’ll want to see now it’s been reported.

Ideally an officer will come out to inspect the building and take measurements. If it isn’t substantially complete they’ll make inquiries about what it will look like/be used for. They may issue a PCN to get this information - failure to respond is a criminal offence.

They’ll then make their assessment of it and possibly seek their own legal advice. If they think that there’s no breach they’ll leave it there. If they think there is a breach but it’s not expedient to rectify it they’ll leave it there.

If they think there’s a breach which is expedient to rectify, but it could be regularised via a planning permission, they will advise your neighbour to apply for retrospective planning permission and you’ll have an opportunity to object during that formal process. If retrospective planning permission is refused and your neighbour doesn’t appeal, the LPA should serve an enforcement notice immediately.

If they think it’s a breach which is expedient to rectify and they don’t think it could be regularised by a planning permission they should move straight to an enforcement notice.

An enforcement notice should require removal of the building and that the land is returned to its previous state and the rubble cleared (within a suitable timeframe). If your neighbour doesn’t comply the LPA can enforce the notice via the magistrates court and in the worst case they can go in and remove it themselves.

Your neighbour would have the opportunity to appeal an enforcement notice to the Secretary of State.

The law changed last year so now the time limit for enforcement action relating to operational development is 10 years (whereas this previously would have been 4 years). In our LPA it’s common for enforcement notices to be going out running up to the deadline. It’s a resourcing issue.

Getting local councillors involved can be helpful in that they will put pressure on the officers to look into it quickly, but it won’t change the result if the view is that there is no breach, or there is a breach but it’s not expedient to take enforcement action.

All in all the process can be drawn out over a number of years, depending on various factors.

It’s shameful that public officials think it’s ok to drag out this sort of thing for years.

How hard is it to drive to a property and take some measurements???

They don't think it's ok.
Like every other public service, local councils are underfunded. There is a recruitment crisis in local authority planning. Workloads are ridiculous.
Qualified planners can earn more in the private sector, without getting the daily abuse from members of the public.
Planning Enforcement can be downright dangerous. I've known enforcement officers being physically and verbally abused. One was threatened with a gun. It's hardly surprising that they struggle with staff retention.

An enforcement notice should require removal of the building and that the land is returned to its previous state and the rubble cleared (within a suitable timeframe).

ENs don't have to require removal. They can require alterations take place that would make the unauthorised development acceptable eg reducing the height of a structure.

This. In a nutshell. It may hold things up a bit, however, if they’ve built within the guidelines, there is nothing to worry about.

Either way, it’s no fun having this sort of impact on your own garden or the conflict with the neighbours. Sounds stressful whichever way you look at it. Sorry OP.

Hi
If its all above board they have nothing to worry about so I dont see why they should get mad. It sounds like they've taken your previous friendship for granted and gone ahead anyway assuming you won't complain.
However it sounds more like an accomodation annex rather than an office.
A garden office can be constructed in one day after the foundation(very basic one) has settled and dried properly.
Good luck!😊

It would help a lot if you could have provided a diagram. If it's within permitted development which it probably is, there is nothing you can do. They obviously needed the space, it is not some kind of vendetta against you. I'm guessing they are south of you if the structure puts your garden in shade, but you back into woodland too so doesn't that cast shade? The gardens must have an astonishing slope if there is a drop of 2 metres across the width of a cabin.
If they had built it on the high side of their garden they wouldn't have been able to get in it would they?

It's lovely that you have a lovely sunny garden and sanctuary but you must know there's no legal entitlement to these things.

it’s a very steep hill. Yes they could easily have placed it on the other side of the garden. I wouldn’t even know how to show diagrammatically the way it works. No the woodland doesn’t cast shade. In any event they have now downed tools because I provided builders with details of local planning laws they are violating (including conservation area infractions which I have now realised are in place) but thanks for your assurance there was no infringement on the basis of your own assumptions.

Absolutely get your issue but neighbour disputes are horrible I have issues with neighbours and it's not nice worrying coming home ect especially when they're petty
Just think it properly before you report

Well done OP… and fingers crossed ND decide not to flout regulations…

At some point people will say it is petty to fall out over this. Remember - you didn't, they did. They started the falling out and if it is petty for you to object (it's not!) then they are petty to do this in the first case. It's either a big deal or it isn't but that works both ways and they started all of it.

Only total A-holes build without planning.

If there’s an article 4 direction in place due to being within a conservation area it may be that there’s no permitted development rights at all

Well done for at least temporarily getting them to stop while things are checked out! I hope the council does it's job and makes them pull it down.

Please keep up updated, OP. I am relieved for you that the works have stopped for now.

Well done OP.
Horrible selfish people.
Do whatever you have to do to stop this, and never engage with them again.

Ohh if its a conservation area they can't build to the side of the house under PD, only directly behind it.

I used to be on the planning committee - I would report it, and if they've done it right then they have nothing to worry about :-)

That's the case in the town where I live. Everything under PD needs planning g permission.

@Soontobesingles if it's right against the boundary and your higher on the hill I'm assuming that there's some sort of retaining wall of feature that stops your garden sliding into theirs, have you got a party wall agreement?

Purely commenting for future updates!

Did they finish building the office?

How are you getting on @Soontobesingles?