Retropsective planning after 5 years

[Propertyshmoperty]

Hi I was wondering if anyone can give me advice? Basically I tore down an old timber garage (that was on the plans for the house) and replaced with a garden office the same size. I assumed this was permitted development but could be mistaken. It was completed nearly 6 years ago.

I'm selling the house and the buyer is refusing to budge unless the garden room has planning permission or building regs, do you know what I might need? Thanks in advance. I'm panicking this is all going to shit. 😞 I thought we were nearly ready to exchange.

Both, retrospective pp or certificate of lawfulness plus buildings regs.

Have you asked your solicitor?

Ask the building regs department in your local council office, ours was very helpful with my queries

I just got the email at 6pm. I can't speak to anyone so I'm in a bit of a mess. 😢 Was really hoping to be moved over the summer holidays I'm devastated. I know my onward purchase won't hang around if this is going to take months to resolve.

Re. Building Regs:

1. Less Than 15m2Internal Floor Area – Building regulations will not normally apply.
2. Between 15m2And 30m2 – Building regulations are required if the garden room is built less than a meter from a boundary or it is not constructed substantially of non-combustible materials.
3. Anything larger than 30m2building regulations is required.
4. In all cases, building regulations are required if the building contains any sleeping accommodation.

Hard to comment on your case without knowing the size, but it's possible building regs aren't required. Do you know the size?

Similar for permitted development, how big is it, how high is it, and how close is it to a boundary? Are you in an area where permitted development rules do not apply (conservation area)?

I've had solicitors hounding me for building regs approval and was able to write a note with the reasons why building regs weren't required in that case and they accepted it.

13.2m2 internal and under 2.4m high, no beds, no plumbing, that's why I didn't seek them out in the first place and my house isn't listed or has any other restrictions. I explained these things to them when they asked the question a couple of weeks ago already, and offered to buy an indemnity for it but they haven't been satisfied with that.

I'll ring the council and see if I do need regs as my deeds do have some covenants as a 1930s house, I'll also contact my solicitor tomorrow. This is the third time I've sold, first one chain collapsed under my buyer second one was a foreign cash buyer who tried to knock 20% off their offer before exchange and now this, I can just feel it slipping through my fingers again. I think I'm going to have an aneurism from the stress, I've moved half my stuff into storage in anticipation of moving by the end of the month! 😅😭

Oh also it is close to the boundary but no closer than the original garage and our neighbours were happy, both the previous ones and the current ones.

If this is a residential property and it has been there over 4 years without any action taken by the council it is deemed lawful. However I can understand why a potential buyer will be uncomfortable taking your word that this is the case.

This is a problem of your own making and it is well worthwhile applying for a certificate of lawfulness to try and avoid problems for the next sale if this one falls through.

The council will have no interest in deeds or covenants.

I don't blame my buyer I'm sure they're getting good advise and need to look after their interests but it's so frustrating, I really didn't think the garden room needed planning.

I do love my house though, even though we were moving to somewhere much bigger, so if I'm forced to stay it won't be the end of the world. Not sure I can go through this again anytime soon if it goes to shit again. 😭

Not read the full thread but just to be aware that if you contact the council it may exclude you from being able to purchase an indemnity for a duration if the buyers change their mind, or if future buyers wanted one.

I was just going to say this. Do not call the Council! My mum's house had a garage conversion that didn't have building regs and she just paid for insurance to cover any planning issues or rebuilds. Speak to your solicitor before you do anything or speak to anyone!

Edited as I see they have already rejected your offer of indemnity. The buyers are being very silly, I'd put it back on the market.

It doesn't sound like they are getting good advice if they're being told they need planning permission and building regs for a structure that needs neither.

We had a similar issue where our buyers were asking for 'conservation area consent' for an extension which isn't even a thing for building an extension. Even our solicitor didn't seem to understand that it wasn't something that was needed and we had to show her all the relevant information and she went back to their solicitors with it. Fortunately they accepted that they were mistaken and that was the end of it.

I had this many years ago when the buyer started creating about lack of planning for a lean-to I had on the back of the house which at the time was considered a temporary structure. I instructed the solicitor to say if she was that bothered, I’d take it down because I really couldn’t be doing with delaying things any further. Funnily enough she went quiet about it and the sale went ahead.

It was a thing between 1990 and about 2010 though more about demolition than building I think.