Planning permission for working from HOME!!?!

[Jollymum]

Just a quick rant- I work from home and got a really upsetting letter this morning saying and I quote "it has been brought to my attention blah blah blah..." from the Planning Department. I couldn't understand why I needed planning permission to run a business from home-I haven't changed any rooms, expanded etc and thought what the hell did it have to do with them? Phoned childminding association buddy who said that if you have over six children in the house, you need planning permission(that's if you run a business, not have six of your own) and that most councils have some sort of agreement with the Ofsted/Fire checker-ups people. I know that childminders need ofsteding, I know I don't because all my mums stay with their little ones. I asked if someone had complained and was told that yes, someone had and no, I couldn't know who it was. To my horror I was told, in a round about sort of way that a neighbour had complained about me and from what I could gather, without the guy saying too much it was about parking problems. We live on a really long road, I always tell my "Mums" that come to me to be considerate and it was a real shock to find out that a neighbour was moaning about me. What does it take to come and say to me, "Look, someone is always parking by my house, can you stop them please?" I'm not an ogre, really, I'd be happy to help anyone out and it really upsets me that some one doesn't "like" me. Sorry if that sounds a bit playground and I should be tougher, but I really would never willingly offend anyone and it really has upset me. The Planning guy is coming round tomorrow to check out my house/surroundings etc and if he say no, then that's it, no business. I've worked hard to build it up over the last four years, it works around my kids and it would really make a difference to finances etc. At the moment, if I need to I can still go to all my kids' class assemblies etc and my "clients" don't mind being swapped around with their classes, 'cos they'r all mums too and it's really important to me. I can't beleive that some narrow-minded/jealous person would do this and if the business goes bust, then I would have to find full time work, meaning that I can't be there for all the events in my kids' lives that I want to be! SORRY-I know it's a rant, but I've been brooding all day about it and maybe some of you run things from home and like me aren't aware of this rule. Rant over, any comments......OK, just a bit of sympathy?!

Jollymum do you live up my street? Because this is the kind of level some people round here stoop to. Sorry I have no advice just sympathy. Hope everything goes ok for you tommorrow

Can't offer any advice but agree that it sounds completely mad, are you able to seek any legal advice? By the way i'm very envious that you have managed to find a job to do from home, i really miss having my own cash and independence. Are you able to tell me what it is that you do? I'm desperate to find something that i can do from home but keep finding all these dodgey "send me £40 and i'll tell you how" type things!!

There are always busybodies out there Jollymum with nothing better to do. See what the planning guy says. Surely unless you have permit parking people can park anywhere in the road. We live fairly close to some shops and loads of non-residents park in our road. Sometimes its a bit of a pain, but if I'd been that worried about it I wouldn't have moved here!

Good luck anyway. Your business sounds interesting.... Music group?

Hey, I spoke to you the other night, remember? You were really stressing over you little wotsit going to sleep and after I spoke to you, thinking that all my little darlings were where they were supposed to be, Guess what?! The two oldest were watching Terminator 2 ( and yes, one is 13 and ne is 10 and the youngest got warned that if he had nightmares, tough luck) but hey, it's the holidays! Well, guess who was snuggled up on the 10 year old's high bed (I did check him at least twice betwenn 8 and 10.30pm) the 4.5 year old, saying "Hey, Mum, do you know that man, well he got his head blown off) and other various violent statements! Red faced mum taking small protesting boy off to bed, griping at husband that "I thought you'd checked him!!!". Equally grumpy husband moaning back "I did, but I just thought he was under the duvet hiding again!!" Anyway, as I'm not allowed to advertise here ( and I agree with that) I'll just say that I run music sessions for littlies and it honestly is the best job I've ever had. Tech, is it alright to give out phone no.s as well as e-mails? Teletubby, e-mail me or if I don't get a message back from Tech soon, I'll put down my phone no and we can chat. I'm hoping that your little one is up to bed soon(?), glass of wine, earplugs if not, and we'll get in touch. LOL and thanks for the messages, people, really need some sympathy! I've gone from utter shock to "let me know who it is and they'll get dog poo through their letter box!!" NO, NOT REALLY.... but it makes me so MADDD!!!!!

fio2 ...thanks for the mesaage, appreciate it.

jimjams, yes and I read all your posts, beacuse I started working with a little boy with s/n and that's how I learned a little bit of makaton. I now work a voluntary session at his school, doing music with lots of kids. It's my best session of the week and I send you LOL, because you are doing a great job!!LOL

Jollymum, why don't people mind their own business instead of yours. I let a self-contained apartment in my house to holidaymakers - all totally above board, I advertise with local tourist board, have annual Southeast England Tourist Board inspections to get graded, have fire inspections, declare all income and pay tax, etc. Always have quiet people, only one family at a time as only have one apartment and we live on the property! A few years ago some nosy neighbour reports me to the tax office but tough tits for him as am all above board! But, why.....?

Same thing happened to my osteopath. 3 people at a time would be parking outside his property - 2 on the drive an one outside and some weirdo complained about all the parking! They even went so far as to hire a van to park outside the clinic to stop people parking there!! Really wierd.

It has happened to a couple of people I know too. One moved her business out of the house and got premises (permanent) but luckily her business was at the stage where she could do that.

If the planning bod turns you down, could you use a church hall or similar? That's what local P&B music groups do here. Well a small room off the main hall anyway. Since the main hall only costs around 7 quid an hour, the small room must be peanuts although I guess this would eat into your profits somewhat.

Or you could advertise as a mobile group - where you visit other people's homes/playgroups?

You've prob thought of all this already but I'm avoiding other tasks this evening Good luck.

Soupdargon can beat that one. I had two people in cars visit my house AT THE SAME TIME >shock horror< and the police were called out for illegal parking(?) and little notes were left on my guests cars. Funny really

Sue W-thanks for the message. There are a few other music groups around here, well, four actually, and I don't know where you live, but it's around £15 an hour here for a hall. Also, on some days I might only do two classes, (ie:1 hours actual work) so it isn't worth hiring somewhere. Thanks for the thought. The other advantage is that by working from home, I can do things inbetween classes, like bunging a load of washing in, doing some paperwork, or nipping out to do a mega quick shop. Also, if the children are ever sick (I'm going to sound like a bad, unfeeling mother here!) I can leave them in the next room/upstairs if they're only skiving off and get on with my work. It's only really difficult when the littlest one has got a sicky bug,( he's nearly 5 and going to school in September!) but as someone on another thread was going on about sick, sorry if you're sensitive, all mine know that if they're gong to throw up they ought to aim for the loo or a bucket! It's only very occasionally that I have to miss something at school and then I rope DH, my Dad or ex-mum-in-law to go so that at least someone is there beaming at them.I love my job, I love all "my" children that I work with and it's far easier to work with them at home than in a hall where it would be sooo tempting to run around. They come to my house and as they get more confident(or start walking on their own) they run into my dining room where I work, collect their little name cards very proudly and sit down. I'm lucky in that it's reasonably large and all I have to do every morning is move the table and chairs, give it a clean and get the biscuits ready! For everyone thas posted, thanks. I can't believe how petty people can be-is it jealousy, do you think, or just boredom/nastiness? If that's all some people have got to worry about, well I feel sorry for them. LOL

As Devil's Advocate, we came home in the early hours of Monday morning, having been driving all day & really tired, to find some a**hole parked opposite our driveway (with my other car in it) & completely blocking our parking space. (The road is very narrow so 2 cars parked on opposite sides block the road. There's like an extra bit the other side of the pavement that is flat & per the deeds of the house that is "our' parking space).

Also, as the road is so narrow I can't get out of the drive with someone opposite because there just isn't room to manouever. I have no idea whose car it was & there is plenty of parking without obstructing my property. Perhaps why these other people get so uptight about parking?

Tallulah, sorry to hear that, it must be tough.We live on a long road, there's absolutely no problems with parking and even if someone parks opposite my house, there's loads of room to swing out. It's got really silly now, environmental health have to be involved apparantly and for what? Nursery rhymes, dancing and the odd bit of jumping up and down and being a bee, or whatever. I think it's time I started dobbing the three lots of teenagers across the road in, who often come back at 1/2 in the morning, pissed as farts and can't understand that if you want to talk to the person next to you that you don't have to shout and start every sentence with the F word! My dd, who's 8 has started to get into CD's and I'm always yelling at her to turn it down becuase of the neighbours (even though we've got double glazing and I make sure the windows are shut!) WELL-THAT@S IT! NO MORE MRS NICE NEIGHBOUR!!! I think it's time I got my old Zeppelin CD's out and started playing them loud (of course, only at irregular intervals so the the environmental health officer sitting outside my house can't actually catch anything on tape, as he has to sit there for one hour apparantly!) Now going off to play 58 minutes of loud music!! (Only joking, going to bed to wonder about which neighbour doesn't like me anymore).LOL

I found this via Google

"Q Are there legal implications to running a business from home?

A If you decide to run a business from home, you can check informally with your local council whether any planning permission is needed. Permission is not always needed to work from home, and is tested on how running a business affects the character of the dwelling, for example, its affect on neighbours, and whether the premise is mainly a home or a business premises. If it mainly a home, then no planning permission is required.

Councils provide planning application forms and planning officers can help in their completion. Applications must be accompanied by plans of the site, the proposed work and a fee. Proposals are open to the public for viewing and anyone can comment on them. If permission is granted, the council informs the applicant by letter.

Further information on planning is available from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister website.

There are also VAT and income tax implications to running a business from home, for example, in what can be claimed as legitimate business expenses.
"

Thanks, Soupdragon. Will check out that link. What's really annoying is that we're off on hol Saturday so will now have to take Dh mobile with us, which I swore I wouldn't do, as work kept phoning him last time we were away! Thanks again, LOL

Jollymum, I would just like to say that your business sounds wonderful and I hope the hassle you are having now doesn't put a stop to it. Yes it is irritating if you can't get a car parking space in your own road but what does it take to speak to a neighbour about a problem? Years ago our next door neighbour reported us to the environmental health for loud music (which I never understood as we had a small child ourselves at the time and NEVER actually played loud music!) She'd just decided she didn't like us - I still don't know what I'd done - but for a while it really upset me becasue I too don't like to offend/upset people. Some people simply have too much time on their hands! Hope it works out for you.