If I object to planning permission application do I risk neighbour selling to developer?

[pacific407]

Would be grateful for help from anyone that knows more than me about planning permission!

We have recently bought a house. There is a plot of land right at the bottom of our garden. The owner of that land has had planning permission turned down (including after appeal) to build a house on the plot. Reasons included limited access and proximity to nature reserve.

I’ve heard on the grapevine that they are thinking of reapplying. Apparently the owner has been putting other neighbours under pressure not to object as otherwise they’ll sell the plot to a developer.

Question is, if the owner gets knocked back for planning permission again, how likely is it that a developer will be interested in the plot? I’d be inclined to object to any new application but would think again if the alternative is a developer squeezing 4 houses onto the same spot!

Seems to me that a developer wouldn’t bother if 2x application for a single house refused. But perhaps they have their ways of pushing things through? Any thoughts gratefully received!

It's all gossip and hearsay at the moment. Wait until the owner resubmits the plans and object if you want to. A developer won't necessary get planning permission either - if one house was refused - I can't see permission given for 4 as the access issue etc hasn't changed.

They'll be lucky to find a developer interested in the plot with PP refused twice already for a single house!

Couldn’t people still object to a developers planning permission, not sure why they think that’s any real threat?

@LawnFever that’s what I thought so I wondered if developers have ways of getting applications through where applications by non-developers have failed 🤷‍♀️.

If they can't get PP for one house, it's unlikely four will be granted. It's an idle threat.

[quote pacific407]@LawnFever that’s what I thought so I wondered if developers have ways of getting applications through where applications by non-developers have failed 🤷‍♀️.[/quote]
They do, it's called cash. But unlikely a developer is going to risk it for a small 4 house plot.

When I looked into planning for some land, the council told me it was actually better to apply for more houses, even if you didn’t want to build them all as the government needs more houses building than there are. So a one house application may be more likely to be turned down than several. This obviously was just for my are, I can’t speak nationally.

Access and impact on the nature reserve would be worse if a developer bought.

The owner is trying to use lack of knowledge of planning to blackmail people.

Object!

I used to work for a property development and management company. Developers have the means, i.e. money, to find a work around which could involve buying land from one of the neighbours to enable improved access. However, they'll only do this if the yield on the project makes it worthwhile. They are potentially better, because they have the experience and the advisers, at making sure their planning applications are likely to succeed. This doesn't involve backhanders, etc.

@CrotchetyQuaver

They'll be lucky to find a developer interested in the plot with PP refused twice already for a single house!

This! Developers would have no weight against a strategic planning committee. If they've already been refused twice, I can't see a developer wanting to take it on, especially if you consider how many dwellings they'd be able to build there? Is it just one? I suspect he's using it as a threat.

If planning grounds for refusal were proximity to nature reserve; no developer can overturn that. They might, at a stretch, consider opening up access - which a developer is more likely to have the funds to do, but that might not be logistically possible or profitable for them.

Sorry OP, just re-read and noticed it's for 4 houses. Either way, still think it's unlikely!

You don't say which country of the UK you're in (assuming it's the UK). Laws will be different in all four I expect, and may even vary by council, not sure.
In Scotland if it's an access issue, they're unlikely to get planning for more houses if one house has been turned down. Multi-house access is tougher to get planning for as more cars will be using it. It depends if you think the access issue could be resolved by a potential developer throwing money at it. For example, could they offer an obscene amount of cash to one of your neighbours for a slice of the bottom of their garden? Would that resolve the issue?

@FeistySheep @cherrytreecottage. This is all really interesting. I'm in England. I don't see a way that the access issue can be resolved (there is a narrow lane to the plot, with a house either side, neither of which seems to me to have any land that could be sold to help the access problem). There is also a public footpath and a railway line that create essentially physical boundaries that would restrict access.

It totally makes sense that access needs to be greater the more houses you build on a plot - stupidly I hadn't really thought about it like that. The track in question, even at it's widest, would only have room for one vehicle at a time I think.

I'm getting the sense that this is bluster coming from the owner of the land.

@IstandwithJackieWeaver. This was my concern - not necessarily that there would be back handers (although I assumed that might be a possibility) but that developers might have ways and means simply from experience of knowing how to make successful applications.

Not many developers are going to want to buy a piece of land where pp has been refused twice

@RainingBatsAndFrogs I think that must be right. That's a really good point.

@PanamaPattie You're absolutely right, of course. The control freak in me is struggling with not knowing what's going to happen!

@shittingthreeeyedraven interesting point. Lots of recent new build developments quite close to me - I don't know whether that's a good sign or a bad sign tbh!

Things that might sway a LA might be an amount of affordable or social housing. a 4 house plot isn't going to accommodate that.

You could always offer to sell your house to the bloke so his access problem is solved - at premium obviously!
It doesn't sound as though there is anything to be concerned about, your neighbour is just trying to shoehorn his ideas through. If you object mention there are bats nesting and newts in the grounds...

DH works for a developer. They have zero interest in anything under around 50 properties. The only people likely to be interested in a plot for a like that is a local small builder who would see they have had PP refused twice and walk away.

There are very few grounds for objection to PP which are actually considered. All the neighbours could object and PP would still be granted if the objections were not relevant.

@AdobeWanKenobi that’s really helpful thank you!

@Hovverry I feared as much 😩

@Loofah01off to find some bats to rehome...😂