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Original poster

Help me outfox my neighbours! Planning Permission related....

26 replies

Fatbergs · 03/12/2017 20:17

My neighbour told me this afternon that he is applying for planning permission for an extension, which would run along the width of our house at the back. We have a very shallow plot with a long wide house, so this would have a pretty big impact on our north facing kitchen...he called it a "substantial" extension so I am assuming 2 storeys.

To make things even more frustrating, we've only just finished (ie the internal doors are going in next week!) our garage conversion which was of course, hugely stressful and expensive, and the thought of anybody waltzing along and taking away our privacy/market value (sorry, it matters to us) has me, frankly, feeling a bit SICK.

So far, plans have not been submitted - I want to know what we can do other than planting leylandii or whatnot. I want to keep them away from my bounday - how can I manage this? What can I do to get the PP turned down? We are already really overlooked from the side (anything get oked around here it think) and I hate it, I really will want to move of that happens along the back of the house.

Please see diagram below:


house
house
house newbit newbit newbit Driveway

888888888TREES8888888
my garden###########

lounge .... prettynewkitchen
lounge hall sittingroom
------------
@@@@@@@@@ - these are roses

Driveway

OP posts:
QOD · 03/12/2017 20:21

Try again with diagram

LIZS · 03/12/2017 20:23

Are they at right angles to your plot? Buildings regulations won't permit clear windows overlooking your garden.

Ragusa · 03/12/2017 20:25

So let me get get this straight ...you have just completed your own building work but want to prevent your neighbour doing similar?? Ok then Hmm.

You can object but if it's within the PP rules and in line with other stuff approved locally it ain't going to work.

Gazelda · 03/12/2017 20:27

Can you post a diagram?

OneThingAndThenTheNext · 03/12/2017 20:38

Diagram?

DancingLedge · 03/12/2017 20:44

Maybe your building work gave him the idea ?

Humptynumpty02 · 03/12/2017 20:46

Classic, you get what you want but to hell with anybody else. Glad I don't live next to you.

Lilliepixie · 03/12/2017 20:50

A garage conversion is slightly different to a substantial 2 storey extension.
Pp can be refused if they overlook or shadow your house.

DamsonGin · 03/12/2017 20:53

Nice roses.

You need to object on things that count as material considerations, in your case it sounds like being overlooked and being overshadowed.

Original poster
Fatbergs · 03/12/2017 20:53

NO, please read my post properly before you start leaping down my throat en masse.

I turned my garage into another room because we had a very pokey kitchen. From the outside there is absolutely no different other than a window not a garage door.

SLIGHTLY different to somebody running an 8metre 2 storey extension along the length of my back garden, I would have thought? As we have a very shallow plot, it would be very easy to lose any privacy at all. My garden is only 3metres deep.

Hardly double standards, ffs.

OP posts:
Ttbb · 03/12/2017 20:54

If it has an unreasonable effect on your property such as blocking light it will be refused. You may also want to look at other extensions in your area. Sometimes there will be a precedent for allowing single story extensions only for example.

titchy · 03/12/2017 20:57

Diagram! Difficult to see what's possible and you don't of course no exactly what the plans are. It may be reasonable for example to ask that no windows are put in on the aspect that overlooks your garden.

Humptynumpty02 · 03/12/2017 22:35

Well you're screwed anyways, permitted development gives your neighbour's 3m's worth of freebie extension.

Panting · 03/12/2017 22:40

Google right to light.

TittyGolightly · 03/12/2017 22:46

Google right to light

You have to have lived somewhere for about 25 years before right to light is considered.

BubblesBuddy · 03/12/2017 22:46

I think it is unlikely they would be allowed a standard two storeys but a single storey or a chalet style might be allowed.

I do agree that a huge extension would be unreasonable. Does the neighbour only have a 3m back garden?

Personally I would never plant leylandii. Essentially you will probably end up with a brick wall and this is better than leylandii.

In the meantime, read up about the planning policies your local authority has in place to stop over development.

Panting · 03/12/2017 23:21

Any affected window has to have been there for a long time, Titty, not the owner.

longtompot · 03/12/2017 23:33

Before we moved here, planning was allowed on a two storey block of flats behind our house. The flats on the first floor have patio doors onto balconys. Clear windows, no frosting, and these windows look right into our garden and the bedroom windows on the back of our house and our neighbours houses. Not sure how they got planning. I wouldn't be so bold as the presume the council wanted the social club to be rebuilt and added these to the application. There was a lot of opposition, what good that did. So, just because they will look into your house doesn't mean they will have pp refused.

BuzzKillington · 03/12/2017 23:36

Can't you do a proper diagram and take a photo of it?

wheresmyphone · 03/12/2017 23:46

Before you start panicking I would go on your local councils website. Plus, definitely phone Building Control: they will explain where the local regulations are. You can do this on a no names basis. There are lots of urban myths . Best to get the story straight from the beginning. Call the council: they should be helpful explaining where the regulations are documented.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 03/12/2017 23:57

Good luck with that. Our neighbour built a massive garage right up to our back fence that looks bloody awful and has blocked out a bit of light. Apparently the planning permission was granted in 2000 so his right to build it ran out about twelve years ago. It’s all we can see from our back windows and it’s completely spoilt the garden but what can we do? We can’t make him take it down again.

Anyway. Can you object to the plans? Before he starts building.

titchy · 04/12/2017 07:55

Pp - planning officers can enforce demolition if something has been built without planning permission.

LaurieFairyCake · 04/12/2017 07:58

They won't be allowed any windows overlooking yours, it will just be a brick wall.

RolfNotRudolf · 04/12/2017 08:05

It sounds like he is exceeding permitted development rules hence why he'll have to get PP - all you can do is raise an objection to the plans, and there's every chance you'll succeed, depending on your local planning authority.
Do keep an eye on the website and don't rely on the council to send you a letter, although they're supposed to.

Seeline · 04/12/2017 08:29

I am afraid I cannot work out the relationship between your property and the neighbours. A quick sketch would help, with some dimensions.
The fact that you have mentioned 8m specifically brings me to think that something under permitted development is highly likely (although that would be single storey). To your neighbour, an 8m deep single storey extension could well count as substantial!
If it is PD, it is under the temporary Regs currently in force, which means that they would have to submit an application to determine whether 'prior approval' is required. If you object to such an application, prior approval will be required, and the Council will need to assess the impact of the proposal in the amenity of any adjoining neighbours. If prior approval is still granted, the Council can impose conditions relating to the amenity of adjoin neighbours eg obscure glass in windows.

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