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.

A view, or loss of view, is not considered a material factor in planning law.
Loss of light might be but it’s a very grey area (no pun intended) and I think unlikely you will get anywhere given the builder won on appeal.

The planning committee only looks at planning law. Property law isnt relevant to their decision.

So op may still have property law remedies.

They breached the planning permission, that’s the issue. But yes, then they won at appeal…..
How did they defend their case of they breached planning permission? Did you take them to Court? What was your case built on?

They don’t need to. Presumably the council enforced, the developer appealed and the revised development was approved on appeal so is now completely lawful in planning terms - the original breach is no longer relevant.

The op may have an argument for breach of a restrictive covenant or right to light case but she would need a good property solicitor for that and may find that there isn’t a case there either.

Mrs Bates said she was so disheartened that she had looked into selling her home of 10 years.

However, she was told by estate agents it would not be feasible as the development had affected the value of the property.

Im going to say she wanted to sell for the price that she thought it was worth without the wall, and they said no, you'll need to drop the price.

I was just wondering if OP was involved in the appeal process. Did it happen because she raised her concerns with the Council, or was it picked up by the Council and OP only found out that it had been approved after she looked into suing g.

Did you put your case at the appeal? If you did then it just went against you. Almost certainly nothing you can do now. You have to be very careful if you buy a property for the view, possibly your solicitor should have warned you about the possibility of development, but it's really always a possibility in an area where there are good views to be had. It must be infuriating though, particularly when the initial development was outside the planning, why did they win the appeal? And are there any grounds for challenging it?

I’m going to double check the appeal process as the town council brought it and were against it, as they had gone so over the planning permission, but then we suspect they were paid off as suddenly they said no objections and the hotel won on appeal! This is all really useful advice though, thank you, as we felt really powerless, so it’s given me a little hope and I will seek legal advice based on what I’ve learned here, many many thanks for all the useful replies. I love Mumsnet for the communal wisdom and experience! 💖

I think your only option planning wise would be judicial review and that has a 6 week time limit from the date of the decision (and wouldn't give you compensation) and it is very expensive

But the property law avenues are worth exploring, there's no guarantee there will be anything you can do but I would always recommend getting legal advice to make sure you aren't missing any avenues

If they appealed and won, then the breach doesn't matter, it was been agreed. Did you make submissions at the appeal?

I’m not sure you have a good understanding of the process. The LPA would take enforcement action and the appeal would have been against that, by the owners of the hotel. You and others affected could have been involved in this process. Were you notified? Did you contact your local councillors, mp , other affected residents?

The appeal is not usually held at LPA level and is considered on balance between the different interests and scale of the breech. It is probably too much of a financial risk for LPA to take it further rather than corruption. If you feel the process was not followed correctly you can complain or take it to JR but agree it can be a very expensive and time-consuming exercise.

This.

They do have planning permission. You don't have right to a view.

If you want to waste money chasing a legal case carry on.

It will be more their insurer will have told them they haven't got a material case and it's not worth pursuing. The cost of reducing the height of the hotel will be prohibitive.

You might have a case with loss of light but definitely not view. It's not worth the cost or effort probably.

What a silly sausage you are! Who do you think would compensate you?

What a silly sausage you are.

There are often mechanisms in property law which mean adjacent landowners have the power to either block a development or get compensation.

Developers often develop in full knowledge that if someone comes forward and claims it could scupper the development or cost them a fortune, and they gamble on people being ignorant of their property rights

This is so rubbish OP. It happens a lot where I live (beautiful countryside). People buy for views then they whack a load of new builds up to their garden fence a year later. How much of an impact will it have on your property value? Have you had a valuation? Are you planning on moving?

Not planning on moving any time soon. It’s more that the amazing sea view from the house and garden is now just a really imposing roof. But when we do sell it will be an issue I’m sure.

Could you get a new loft window reinstating your sea view

So sorry OP, what a horrible thing to happen. That really must be sad for you, a sea view is absolutely priceless (well not in house sale terms I suppose!) but you have lost a significant amount of joy from your day I imagine.

No win no fee lawyers are generally gambling on the odds, unless you have very good odds you are unlikely to get anyone to take you on, as they need a really good chance of being able to recover their costs and make a profit.