Hi All,
Over the past 2 years I have converted my 2 cottages into one. I have had building control permission and inspections throughout. We have not altered the external appearance.
A friend tells me I should have had planning permission. Is this right ?
Thanks eveyone
Andy ( now worried )
Almost certainly, although they take a much more dim view of splitting one dwelling into two than vice versa in my area. Are you still paying council tax on both properties? If you have reduced the total number of bedrooms then the money you will save by having it reassessed as one property will probably justify the cost of getting retrospective approval. They could order you to separate the properties again, but I'm guessing they'd rather just have your money.
Al
That would certainly be my understanding. I'm amazed that the council building control didn't check with planning, or get you to sign off that you had.
Hopefully, you'll be able to get retrospective permission. You certainly need to go through the proper channels, or you'll be paying for two lots of everything, such as council tax etc.
Christian.
Hi Al
Well, I told the council tax people it was now one house, and they zoned it as such. So I pay one council tax, and get one set ov voting slips.
Christian, I actually checked the box to say planning permission had not been obtained for BC !
I'd rather not poke a stick at this if I can avoid it, but i'm worried about the impact.
Cheers
Andy
I doubt it is a get out, though. It would still be your responsibility to get permission.
However, in many council areas, it is a formality. It is if you live in an area desperate to increase the number of dwellings to meet county plans, that you have to worry.
Christian.
I would say whats done is done, and the issues you have to face are that when you sell it teh tidtle deeds may ahow it as separate.
If the tax is being paid for a single dwelling, and the council doesn't object withing 12 years or whatever, it is whatever it is.
I am not sure how retropsective planning goes back, but I am pretty sure
12 years covers most things.
If you've got past this hurdle, I can't see how the council will ever notice that it needed planning permission. You could enquire further but I wouldn't bother. If you plan to sell, it might be worth speaking to a specialist land solicitor to find out whether it's worth combining the two land registry entries into one entry, otherwise the purchasers might start asking questions about whether the necessary permissions were sought....
Al
What, building control and planning depts actually talking to each other?! Not likely...
I did a one-into-two conversion myself last year (I'm sure you replied to many of my posts for help about it!); all done with full BC approval and signed off, but without planning permission (a long story!); BC weren't in the slightest bit interested in that.
Think what's needed is a Certificate of Lawfulness, or Certificate of Regularity, or something like that. After X years, I think there's an amnesty on not having applied for permission, providing no residents have complained and/or nobody official has clocked it and said 'oi!' You can't then be forced to reverse the changes, for example; which is a risk the OP is facing at the moment. Can't remember how long "X" is; 5 or 7 years, something like that?
So unless he wants to sell imminently (which is likely to cause the issue of planning permission to be raised), the OPs best bet is keep his head well down for a few years, and then quietly apply to regularise it.
David
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