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.

Maybe you should have kept your neighbours informed. A pub down the garden sounds like a bloody nightmare to live next to.

If it doesn't meet planning rules the council can ask them to demolish it.

This.

If you report and they are right, they have naff all to worry about.

Their spend to date isn't your issue or concern.

I would report it. If they aren't lying they have nothing to worry about.

If you never want good relations with these neighbours again report it - but in my experience builders know what they're doing and if it's in incorrect report hopefully the council will bill you for wasting their time!

Sounds like the garden office will be a lesson learnt the hard way!

@Soontobesingles Just copied having googled - I looked into this for us a while ago but we're in an area where the rules are more strict. However, generally garden buildings are part of the permitted development right so can be up to 4m - but would have to be more than 2m from your boundary:

The maximum height of a garden building without planning permission in England is generally 2.5 meters if the building is within 2 meters of a property boundary. If the building is more than 2 meters from a boundary, the overall height can be up to 4 meters for buildings with a dual-pitched or apex roof, and 3 meters for other roof types.

Report it and see what the planning authority says. It’s likely you will need their planning enforcement team.

OMG, this would destroy my soul.
Contact planning asap

4.5m high? Are you sure? The floor to ceiling height of a standard new build home is 2.3m. I can’t see a garden office being nearly double that.

Hopefully the council will bill the op!!
Bloody hell people are so self absorbed these days. Not caring about putting their neighbours in the shade.

Can I also advise you to contact your local ward councillors directly as well as the council’s planning department. You’ll be able to find their details on your local council’s website. They can put pressure on the planners to take action.

You have spoken and engaged with them to try to get a resolution. That has not worked, so contacting the local planning department is a reasonable thing to do. If you turn out to be mistaken (doubt it), then you should acknowledge this and apologise for any hurt caused.

Hope you’ve reported it already op!

It’s possible if they’ve built into the eaves.

Your best option is to report to your local authority planning team.

However make sure you give them the facts clearly (including height, width, distance for boundary … ) and explain the planning rules that have been breached.

That will improve your chances of prompt action.

As PP mentioned you can contact your councillors however they will want to have seen you have approached planning enforcement first.

Dont worry about the relationship with the neighbours . If you live in London they don’t matter that much. You won’t be borrowing sugar from them.

The extension is very likely a permitted development.

In London lots of people are happy to have teeny tiny gardens which includes literally a strip in order that they can have an extension.

One of my siblings got reported for their extension clearly by a neighbour. I suspect which neighbour. Planning weren't interested. Building control were but they were fine with it as no supporting walls were being knocked down.

What amused me more when I was told Building Control had just turned up was I knew it was a permitted development as my sibling is cautious and had been told by myself plus other people to ensure that it was.

Hmmm you might be wrong sadly. There are rules that I think sound really quite high, but yes it’s measured from the highest point. We looked into it when our neighbour didn’t like our office.. they complained and our builder has assured us he was within regs and he was right.

They won't.

They will just be interested to confirm it is being used as an office/summer house and not something that is being lived in. Unfortunately some Londoners think it is ok to make a bedroom with bathroom and kitchette in their garden that they can rent out.

I’ve been watching this and laughed my head off at the first episode. It was like a replay of when we dared to do an extension. It was like they had recorded my neighbours exact words 🤣

They haven't considered you at all so don't consider what they've spent

If it’s on a slope there is a high probability they are actually right regarding the regulations and you will just be entering a war with a neighbor . Good luck

A bungalow maybe 2.3m, but not a 2 storey home?

4.5 metres? Is your neighbour the BFG?

Permitted development is that the outbuilding has to be single storey with maximum eaves height of 2.5m, maximum overall height of 4m with a dual pitched roof or 3m for any other roof.

The outbuilding (and any previous extensions) cannot use more than half of the area of land around the original house, so not 50% of the total plot, 50% of the residual land.

If they've breached either of those, then they will need to put in retrospective planning permission. It doesn't mean to say it won't be granted, but you will at least get the chance to object formally.

Contact the enforcement team at your local council planning department. They're usually pretty quick to respond with things like this.

Oh, and the slope of their ground means bugger all. It's the height of the building, not the height of the building compared to the foundation line of the main house.