Help - freehold owner is planning to build an extra apartment in our building, which will block any sunlight....

[Yanka]

Hi there, I am hoping someone could help me out with how to contest our freeholder's planning application.

The context (I will try to be brief): We own a lease on an apartment within a block of 10 flats. The building is roughly 'H'-shaped with one of the vertical bars on the 'H' being two storey lower than the other parts of the building (if that makes sense).

The freehold owner has now applied for a planning permission to build a 2-storey extension which would essentially bring all parts of the building to the same level. This would mean that many flats would lose either any view whatsoever (and look directly onto a wall) or at least a few hours of sunlight.

Of course, we want to contest this application, but I was wondering if anyone knew whether the 'sunlight and view' arguments are sufficient to contest or whether it sounds a bit silly and if there is a way to increase our chances of success?

Any advice would be really appreciated...

I would talk to the local planning department and if they think you have a case getting a local councillor involved might help too...

I've been through something very similar. The freeholder built a six storey building in our lightwell. I am on the fourth floor and look straight out at a blank brick wall.

We objected but the application was accepted anyway because the developer's own calculations showed that our loss of sunlight and daylight (different measurements apparently) was "acceptable".

What this means is that the woman who lives on the ground floor, who is 87 and partially sighted, has lost over 33% of her light. But this is deemed acceptable. People on the other side of the block have lost much more than that but the council only consider loss of light to bedrooms and living rooms to be relevant. They lost light in kitchens and bathrooms which doesn't count at all apparently

It has been an absolute nightmare - particularly the building works which are now entering their third year.

You need to get everyone in your block to write to the Council setting out your objections and try to find a helpful Councillor to fight your case for you. Our Tory Councillor was point blank not interested (it's a Tory Council) but the Labour group were willing to take it on and have helped a lot (because they wanted to make a political point and we all suspect money changed hands to allow the development to go ahead).

We also went to the local press and got some coverage and are now in negotiation with the freeholder over compensation which they don't have to pay us but wanted to avoid any more bad publicity (they are a FTSE 250 company).

Another tack to try is to look at your lease. Our freeholder was obliged to ensure our "quiet enjoyment" of our properties which obviously he was breaching by drilling every day from 8am till 6pm for three years....

We are hoping to settle out of court but would have considered a lawyer if the developer hadn't caved in in response to bad publicity.

Oh dear - thank you so much for sharing your experience, I sense an upcoming fight on our hands...