Help buying a house - boundary wall issue / may be knocked down .

[ginorwine]

About to offer on a house tomorrow
It sits in its own grounds next to a old industrial building
At the end of the yard which is close to the house there is a beautiful some wall which is part of that building

We have just been told that the owner is selling off the building and it is likely to be knocked down and made into flats
The thjng is if this happened we wd have b
No back wall to our yard
Also as it is a very tall old wall - part of a tall big old building if the wall was left up and the rest of the building knocked down then ot wd be unstable ?
The back of the house is all glass , looking on to a courtyard , as it currently is. Completely private . A small wall wd mean it went from being totally private to overlooked .
Can anyone tell me what on earth to do ?
The house is very old - an old temperance hall and the building it backs onto is an old steelworks .
Thanks .

I would walk away

I guess only buy it assuming there will be flats and no wall there. Would you still be happy living there? Could you plant a quick growing hedge instead?

The house has windows on roof space too so a hedge wd have to be as tall as a house roof height
The current wall which the horse looks out onto is a massive industrial size wall .. wonder if cd argue it cd be replaced somehow ..

Have a look on the council website at the planning application and what has been granted in terms of planning conditions attached to the permission before you make an offer. There will have been consideration of the impact of the change of use and new flats on the neighbouring properties, particularly on a historic property. You should be able to find out what is happening to the wall there.

Thanks but it nit sold yet ... about to be ... wd we be able check on that basis ? Thanks again !

Okay - so I would have a chat with a planning officer and sound them out as to what might be permitted. If you still want to go ahead then do your homework on what constitutes a valid objection so that what gets built is acceptable to you.

I wouldn't buy. Nightmare. You don't know what till be built and there will be loads of disruption.

Pp can be applied for before a property is sold. Is any part of the site listed or protected? If the wall was demolished something would need to be reinstated.

I wouldn't buy without knowing what he planning permission definitely was (not what it might be). Can it be altered after it is granted?

You might have to walk away, Op.

Rang planning
The proposal was fior 14 flats
The planner advised that they with draw the application ... thee are bats in the old building
But they can't tell me why it declined as its confidential the planner said
They said all they can say is local views will be taken into account ..

I wouldn't proceed without knowing what will be at the end of the garden. Seems pretty clear the site will be developed in some way soon, with an owner who's actively trying to develop it.

If the proposal was submitted as an application it is a matter of public record. Presence of bats can cause issues in developments due to their protected status but not insurmountable, so it may well not go away entirely.

I would walk away. Too risky.

I wouldn't want the stress of the potential planning battle. Then you might lose the battle and end up with some monstrosity at the end of your garden, rather than the existing private courtyard. Add to that the disruption of the building work once the planning battle is finished. Not worth it imo.

Have more info
The prev application turned down due to the proposed apartments being built on a shared equity scheme and not popular
It seems prev plans likely to be te submitted
These were to remove the big wall / building and retain the wall to minimum 1.8 metre or if wall damaged to fence to that min height
Wd I be able build a bigger wall myself ?
Apartments wd if same as prev proposal be 1.5 metre on boundary
These proposals were withdrawn in Feb non others submitted yet
I don't kno how to predict this exept that I'm sure that it will be developed
It s the most amazing house I've been in inside
So scary

I think 1.8m is the max height for a boundary without needing pp. You could build another wall within your land but given the number of flats you are likely to be very overlooked. Probably affordable because if this uncertainty.