Compensation for lost sea view and subsequent house price reduction because of hotel build

[Yabbadabbadooooooo]

Dora anyone know if I would be entitled to compensation for the loss of our sea view and the subsequent property value decrease. The hotel in front of us was built beyond planning consent (roof is 1.2m higher than planning was approved for) and the hotel owner has since won an appeal, but is there any way that I can get compensation for the decrease in our house price and also the loss of our sea view? Would anyone do no win no fee as we can’t afford to lose cash on this. Many thanks.

There is no right to a view, and so no compensation for losing it. If they've won an appeal they now have a building with full planning permission so there's nothing more to be done.

As pp said, no one has a right to a view. I’ve heard of cases about infringement of light, but as the hotel has won the planning appeal I doubt anyone would ever risk taking this on.

No babe. Think about what you're saying. There would be no such thing as suburbs or urban areas if people had a right to a particular view.

Fucking hell 😂😂bless you OP.

No

You have no right to a sea view.

You paid over the odds for a property because of the view.

you could look into whether there was planning granted for the hotel and whether your solicitor failed to mention it when buying, but even that is tenuous.

You don’t own a view. I can understand it’s really annoying and upsetting to lose your sea view though.

Let's just wait for Dora to show up and give the final verdict on this.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/17/developers-trap-homeowners-illegal-wall-blocks-sea-view/ - similar story to yours

It's not black and white, it will all turn on specific facts so you need a real life lawyer to advise

• when did you buy? Did your solicitor fail to do planning checks? There's a (very slim) chance they were negligent- but most checks don't check nearby properties : did you let your solicitor know that preserving the view was critical?
• is there anything in the title deeds to the hotel site? (You can get on land registry). Sometimes things are built in breach of restrictions and developers hope they get away with it
• has it breached your rights of light? People can Get quite chunky sums for rights of light breaches and developers often take out insurance to cover that risk (and again, developers and insurers all then just hope people won't realise)

Maybe if you complain to the hotel, they'll give you free dessert for life or something. Worth a try!

I'm guessing you've not got any friends in real life if this is how you speak to people who ask for help. Would you like me to tell you what 'patronising' means?

Sorry but I don’t think you’d get anywhere with this. You don’t have the right to a view, and the hotel now has planning permission.

As I've explained,.it's not necessarily that simple at all. Sometimes nearby property owners have the benefit of restrictive covenants or rights of light and absolutely can be compensated (or even block a development)

Property developers often gamble on people being ignorant of this.

Maybe don't laugh at people unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are talking about? The jokes on you (and everyone developers hoodwink in this way). There are routes to compensation in some cases, some times quite substantial compensation

Excellent. The OP is looking for a no win no fee. I'm sure you can point them in the right direction.

Op may rethink needing it to be no win no fee if she knows there's an avenue worth exploring. I worked for developers so don't know much about it from the other side but I do know how often developers (or their insurers)!just held their breath and hoped noone realised they had a claim

I assume you aren't a solicitor? Because it's pretty embarrassing if solicitors are laughing at members of the public who are asking for advice.

They breached the planning permission, that’s the issue. But yes, then they won at appeal…..

Oh come on, this is a fairly reasonable response. I'm sorry for the OP but they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting compensation.

Has the light levels gone down at all? That is the only possibility you could look into, as lots of others have said there is no right to a view or compensation to a property being devalued by development near by.

Restrictive covenants are another possibility too. These often prevent or limit building.

No, you don’t have a right to a view.

I can think of several developments in just the town I worked in, in just the last few years alone, where people could have got compensation if they had spoken to a lawyer

Not always, but enough of the time that it is always worth getting a decent lawyer to check whether there is a possible claim

And there are now "ambulance chaser" firms taking on rights to light cases, quite possibly on a no win no fee basis. I remember insurers explaining that was why right to light premiums were higher in the towns these firms are active

In planning law, no. But in property law covenants and /or rights of light can control whether there is development and to what height

I've sat listening to planning committees many times listening to people object and thinking they need a property lawyer not a planning consultant!

And yet the hotel has legally built, and won their appeal for the error. So no issue with the development or the height.