Neighbour wants to build 10 houses next to us

[buckwheat]

Our neighbour submitted planning application for a 10 houses to be built in his garden. He is on the hill higher and further back than us, those houses would be all sitting above us looking in our back garden. I thought something like that could happen as his garden is huge but I thought maybe 2-3 houses that would be tucked away. Currently it’s only his house and it is far away from us hidden by the trees.
I can’t see an actual application on the portal yet.
his driveway goes along our house too, so it will be busy road with all those households. What can we do? We are devastated :(

A question for everyone. Have you heard of any applications being rejected lately due to tories hust wantign to build build build ? Even if, rejected they eventually are granted I feel, after some back and forth and minimal concessions

Yes, they make a show of saying no a few times, it is appealed and a dead cert ridiculous app goes through.

Only anecdotal but there have been plenty of investigations and reports if you google it

https://www.theplanner.co.uk/2020/08/03/local-authorities-are-unable-prevent-corruption-planning-says-report

I couldn't handle the noise it would cause, the constant banging and all that. Ten houses or five that's a lot and it would go on for eternity unless he built them all at once and that might even be worse! I value my time and peace too much.

A developer might try and get a ward councillor on their side, but it won’t make a difference. Councillors are small cogs in a big process.

A planning officer can’t be bribed. It’s very silly and ignorant to think so. No single person makes a decision, be it under delegated powers or otherwise.

Start planting an evergreen hedge along your boundary

Not so much a bribe, but things get through planning by developers making certain promises. We had 3000 houses built on farm land and the developer promised a school and doctors surgery as part of the development. Eight years later they are not built and the developer has gone bust.

There's a bit of a lack of knowledge on the planning system here. Assuming in England, application goes in and you can object to it ( on valid planning grounds). Applications are determined by local planning authorities ( usually city, borough , district etc council). Some applications are delegated to officers to make the decision. It would never be the decision of just one officer though. A major or controversial application will probably be determined by a committee. If refused, the applicant can appeal. Objectors don't have a right of appeal. But they can challenge the decision on a point of law ( very expensive to do). You don't have to own the land to put in an application, so a developer could have put the application in. And as has been said above, if a neighbour had got a letter, it must have been registered and be available to view

It may be worth using a planning consultant to help you object.

I would team up with your other neighbour (if they are as equally concerned) and seek advice from a Planning Consultant. Get a very strong objection that addresses all the details that you might not be aware of and which the Planning Committee will find hard to refute.

Surprised no one has mentioned the housing crisis. People need houses to live in and they have to be built somewhere. I understand why people don't want them built in the neighbour's back garden but they've got to go somewhere.

You can also look at his property title via The Land Registry (for a small fee) - check for any restrictive covenants, for example our street has one on nearly all properties on the road - limits to a single dwelling per plot. So they can be replaced with one dwelling but not split into smaller lots. Although the planning department cannot enforce this as more a legal route - it can be noted in your objection that it maybe enforced if neighbours choose to do so.

If on a private road - you can ask your management company / road association to refuse a development licence which would prevent access for construction vehicles / contractor parking. Again if this is a possibility, you can mention this in your objection.

Look at your property deeds as you might also have rights across his property or other covenants which may help you prevent him developing on such a scale.

As mentioned above you can search for TPO's - which can restrict development and extends to root system / canopy area of trees. Flooding / drainage - another one mentioned above - look at your homebuyer surveys as usually cover the surrounding area. Your looking for various sources of flooding, if natural drainage being on a slope will be impacted and if sewage can cope with existing houses, never mind another 10.

Lastly, do all your neighbours know this is happening as contractor parking / construction deliveries impacts a wider area - they may also want to add their objection but not notified by the council.

I think you would have to detail the planning permission if you were thinking of selling quickly - from my recollection the sellers questionnaire has a section on it and it will come up in their surveys too.

I understand the argument, but I think it is more complex than that. As an example, house developers may already own a substantial amount of land which they have not developed, and perhaps need to be incentivised to do so. For another, I don't believe that a shortage of housing should mean carte blanche for inappropriate developments. Planning rules exist for a reason.

@RebelMoon
I agree, it does go on.
A few councillors were investigated and suspended for planning app bribes, in a nearby LA.

We had similar behind us, we objected as did many other people and ultimately it was decline because of an SSSI, the flood risk and being outside the local area development zone. Can you find out if there's plan for your area?

But we don't know it is an inappropriate development. And inappropriate in whose eyes? I agree it is complicated and house developers should not have the power they do but that's capitalism for you.
The one experience I had with the planning dept of a council, well I can only say they acted disgracefully. And as for the planning application itself - it was about nothing else buy making money for the council.

I know right! The very idea!

As I understood, anyone can apply for planning on anyone’s land, garden, fields.
Probably outline permission first.

OP, is it possible the neighbour has done this initially to check the feasibility and the potential value of the land?

Don’t be ridiculous. Just because a planning decision doesn’t go your way doesn’t mean there’s corruption involved. Do you actually have any idea how planning works?

OP, there are a number of things you can object on but you need to be organised and unemotional about it. Just saying ‘this will RUUUUUUINNNN our lives!’ isn’t enough, there are specific grounds you can object on and you need to research these and use them.

One of our neighbours has submitted similar plans. Letters were only sent out to immediate neighbours and we are several houses away, but the development will have a big impact on the area due to where this neighbour is sited. One of the immediate neighbours leafleted the whole road, with the planning application number, so that more of us could object. We'd not have known, or been able to comment in time otherwise. Still waiting for the outcome.

Our neighbour at the bottom of us got planning for a house at the bottom of us. We objected on flooding grounds, as his garden is higher and we already get water run off. We tried on parking, on increased traffic, on over density. Planning officer granted planning permission as long as the house has a parking space and a French drain put in. The planning officer was very puzzled why we would object and said we live in a built up area why on earth can not build there (we actually live in a village).

hopef with you they’ll say no to ten houses! Seems a lot but if they reckon there is the space for it they may say yes!

A friend did exactly this on their 2 acre plot. They applied for 10 and then eventually "settled" at 6 and their original drive was the accesspoint and made into a road. They knocked down their house and built their own grand design as one of the properties.

There is a real push for houses to be built and many councils will be allowing this kind of mini development as it is considered infill development if the land is already used for residential purposes.

Your best bet is to hope for input into the size, height etc of the buildings approved and perhaps asking for planting to screen them.

This is my impression too. In 80s rejection meant rejection but these days objecting seems to only delay the inevitable as tories are desperate to be "solving" the housing crisis. What grounds of objections actually legitimately, provably prevents building apps I don't know. Would love to find out though. Definitely not things like right to light, noise etc etc

I would check the title of your house and his. Yours to see if you have any rights which could be used to block it. His to see if there are any restrictive covenants that might block it.

The restrictive covenants on his technically only help if there is someone with the right to enforce them. But they can be a practical blocker because the way round them is often to insure against the risk, but a developer will struggle to do that if someone is making a big noisy fuss about the covenants as it significantly increases the risk of a claim.

The most sensible suggestion on this entire thread!