Planning permission, building regs & uncompleted works

[BlaWearie]

I hope to buy a house soon which was granted planning permission for an external building. The groundworks have been put in, along with power & water. I don't want to build the external building. Do I need to pull up the groundworks? Could I just use the concrete to extend my patio? Where do I stand with regard to building regs & planning permission?

You can do what you like, you only need to pull itr up if you want to plant things there.

Thanks

PP usually runs out after 3 years so if you want the building in the future you will have to apply again if you remove the groundworks.

If the works have been started the pp won't have run out. It's a way of prolonging the validity of the pp.

I spoke to the council planning dept. Apparently the owners should get a formal agreement from Building Control that the work has started, or PP will lapse. It's not enough to start the work, you need to get the council to agree you've started the work. (That's if I ever want to build the outbuilding, otherwise I don't need to do anything)

Well that's ridiculous, you must have spoken to the department with no clue. Planning and building control are completely independent and you can be subject to either one, or both, or neither.
I can't imagine building control being too interested in a flag pole, but you'd need planning permission for one.
I can hardly see the planning officer standing up in court and claiming something wasn't started because it wasn't on the building control books. For a start you could be using a private building inspector.
Just take a photo with today's paper and email it to yourself, that should be enough proof. If you're really worried, get the photo signed and witnessed.
And call back the council and tell them they haven't a clue what they're on about.

If they have put in power and water make sure everything is safely capped and to the correct standard. Hopefully they haven't just abandoned it mid-build but ideally get your own qualified staff to check or ask for the appropriate paperwork from the sellers.
You do need to let the Council know when you start work. It's fairly standard. As for using the concrete for a patio, check with the planners. Usually it would be fine but sometimes certain areas and/or buildings have restrictions.

You don't need to let the planning department know that you started or any other department unless the work is subject to building control and you're not using a private inspector. Regarding the patio as the previous poster says, make sure it's less than 30cm above the natural ground level at the highest point, otherwise you'll need new planning permission.