NDN objecting to planning

[NotAsGreenAsCabbageLooking]

As the title says, I’ve applied for planning permission for a full dormer loft conversion, the plans keep the conversion within the existing footprint of the house and follow all guidelines. The officer that did our council site inspection couldn’t see that anyone would have any issues, neither could my architect as there are several loft conversions within the vicinity already and we don’t directly overlook anyone.

Anyway, he has objected for two reasons, the first has been blacked out on the planning portal (any idea why they’d do that?) the second reason is he is worried about damage to his property (I’m in a terraced row).

Does anyone know what the probable outcome would be from this? Or is it really anyone’s guess? I shall ring the planning department tomorrow to see if they can tell me what the blacked out part of the objection is.

To add, the neighbour is a known arsehole, I was warned about him when I bought the house.

Re the crossed out bit, some racist comment perhaps?

I would really hope not 😬

But then, maybe that would work in our favour as surely that would highlight what an arse he is?

It probably has some personal information in it hence the redaction. Given that there’s previous similar development you should be ok. You can’t just object because you don’t like something, objections need to be based on the law or current planning rules and regulations. Sorry you have such a dickhead for a neighbour. Good luck.

The neighbour can object and has done. What you mean is his objection won't be upheld as a valid one by the planning department unless it is based on the law/regulations, etc.

I really hope his objection is dismissed... five people in a two bed house is going to be a struggle 😕 (baby is due in Feb...)
Moving isn’t an option as I simply cannot afford to buy a bigger house unfortunately.

The reason he has given (that isn’t redacted ) wouldn’t be a valid planning reason so won’t be taken into account by the planning officers

Obviously separately any work you do would need to take account of the potential for damage to his property and you would be responsible for remedying any damage caused. You may want to ensure you get good advice on how to protect yourselves against the risk of such claims

With our neighbours we paid for a survey before work started. Then if they are aNy issues during building they are easily provided / disproved. This was done as part of the party wall agreement. It was an extra cost but in my mind a worthwhile one for potential hassle saving!

I’ve looked into the part wall agreement thing... I know it needs doing, but the costing is confusing (to me at least!).

I’ve read that it can cost £30 to get the agreement drawn up, but then the surveys etc. could cost approx £1000.00.

I’m under the impression that if he wants to be awkward (which he will) he can reject our survey and make us pay for an independent survey of his arranging..

He’s making it so stressful!! Knobhead though he is, of course I’m not going to damage someone else’s home to improve mine, I’d make sure all the relevant insurances are in place. Thanks all 😊

Have any others in the terrace done similar? The blacked out comment probably was a subjective comment with no relevance to planning and structural impact is unlikely to carry much weight as long as you have the appropriate drawings and specifications.

"I’m under the impression that if he wants to be awkward (which he will) he can reject our survey and make us pay for an independent survey of his arranging."

Yes, that's what our neighbours did and they're nice people but older and very resistant to change/prone to worrying so they insisted on making us pay for their own surveyor, which is their right so we sucked it up. The dormer still went ahead fine as I'm sure yours will, it just cost us more. Not quite £1k extra I don't think but not far off.

I would ensure you have a proper survey done on the roof and loft and make sure his property isn’t adversely affected. Often neighbours object to change but if it isn’t based on the planning policies and rejevsbf Law, then the planning Officer won’t take any notice of it. It’s just a routine vexatious comment.

However do what you need to do to protect the neighbouring property but a scheme like this isn’t a big deal!

relevant law.....

@wowfudge yes that’s what I meant.

Ours was just under £2k to get both surveys done. (Managed to arrange both at the same time)

The one think I was warned about is if you just go the signed party wall and no surveys route then if they later appoint a surveyor you are liable for the costs of the one they appoint but have no control over what they charge per hour for example.

It looks like your neighbour could be difficult, so once the planning is agreed, I'd be appointing a party wall surveyor to manage the party wall process - not doing so imo is a false economy especially where your neighbour has already shown signs of causing difficulties. Your neighbour could do the same and you'd have to bear the cost but you have no real control over that.

Ours cost around 2k in total but was very valuable as post loft conversion our neighbour tried to claim that damage had been caused to his house. The surveyor (his own appointed surveyor) told him not to be so daft as the 'damage' was evident before the loft conversion and was of a long standing nature. Without a proper survey and a party wall surveyor engaged, we could easily have been dragged into a long dispute with our NDN.

I'd also recommend talking to your NDN to see if they have valid concerns or not. Any relationship will help when work starts as it will be noisy and disruptive for a time for everyone.

www.gov.uk/guidance/party-wall-etc-act-1996-guidance

Thanks all, I’m going to go round and talk to him this weekend. Hopefully I can alleviate his doubts... 😬

Fingers crossed it goes well!!