Neighbours laid foundations already

[TheBookAccordingtoIsaac]

Our next door neighbours have a super long garden that share a fence with 7 other houses, including mine. They have been renovating their house for over 2 years now and still are nowhere near finished.

In March they put in planning permission for a garden shed 7m x 3m. It went across the bottom of our garden fence and blocked out light in our rather small garden so we objected to it for a couple of reasons in the end. They had 2 objections on their plans.

It still hasnt been approved by planning office but fast forward to today, I return from work to find concrete being poured into freshly dug hole for their new garden shed.

I can't find anything clear online on whether it's allowed or not but can they do that without it being approved? Should I wait until I see if its been approved or declined by the council before saying anything or complaining. Maybe the council have approved it but just haven't gotten round to updating the website?

I'd contact the council tomorrow and check. Once people actually build something, they often get retrospective planning permission. If it's not been approved, then it might be easier to get it stopped before it's actually built.

I asked a builder friend this morning and he advised that they may not even need planning permission if they've changed their plans to not have a toilet installed.

It's quite a large shed they plan on installing. It includes a gym, bar, toilet and office space.

Would love to flag it to the council but I don't think they've done anything wrong yet.

Potentially they’ll need planning permission still depending on height of the structure and proximity to fence regardless of toilet. With a foot plan of 7x3m it’s likely to be tall enough to need planning permission, though guess they could have a flat/slop8ng roof rather than pitched. How close to the boundary?

And when a neighbour did this (though foundations for a house not a shed before planning permission) I was straight on the phone to the council and they were out the next day and told him to stop.

This could almost be me! 🤔
We spent 2yrs renovating a derelict property, lived in a caravan onsite, but are in the house now. We also put a large shed/garden room in the garden. It might be dependent on the council, but we were told that if its 2m from each fence/boundary and not over 2.5m at eave height, and not used for accommodation, then we didn't need council approval. We haven't finished the inside yet, but do plan to add a toilet, but it wont be used for sleeping. Our roof is almost flat to accommodate solar panels. Did it say in the planning outline the height of the structure and how close to the boundary?

Why not call the council to check? You have nothing to lose!

https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/miniguides/outbuildings/Outbuildings.pdf

if they dont have the toilet in it then they wont need any planning as long as its within those guidlines.

We put a very large garden office (room for office and gym) in our garden, no planning permission needed as below certain height it’s not required. Also no toilet.

If anyone can point to the definition that says a toilet in an outbuilding requires planning I'd appreciate it. My understanding is that the definition of self contained accommodation is based on it having a kitchen / cooking facilities. I thought showers and toilets were OK (and fairly common for home gyms / offices).

I’m not sure about planning for a toilet but it might come under building regs? It would inside a house but not 100% about an outside one .

Unless its different for different councils they don't seem to care about the toilet, just the proximity to the boundary, but even then our council approves them without even letting you object.

Just call planning and ask them. They will do something or not. It’s perfectly reasonable to approach them for an update in the circumstances.

I thought it was as above for permitted development BUT if it’s over 30m sq you needed planning permission

No 30 sqm is for Building Regs.
The link posted above is for permitted development under the planning legislation.
Garden rooms, sheds etc can be pd if being used for purposes ancillary to the main house ie not being used for separate accommodation, business, or commercial purposes. It makes no difference whether a toilet is provided. Again Building regs may be required for that.