I have a large brick-built double garage, about 20x20ft at the bottom of the garden (occupies the full width of the garden, access via rear access road). Garden is about 50ft long. I'm thinking about the possibility of extending it, with a half-width extension maybe
6-8 feet into the garden. It would not block any light to neighbours' gardens. Is this likely to need (a) planning permission (b) building permission ?Building regulations definitely, Planning permission probably. Go and talk to your local building authority who will give a definite answer and also be very helpfull
the garden (occupies the
extension maybe 6-8 feet into
almost certainly yes, but if you are on good terms with the neighbours just put it up and keep quiet, that is what I did.
mrcheerful
A very stupid and irresponsible suggestion. If you do so that when you come to sell the house you will be asked by your solicitor to certify that all such works have had the appropriate building regulations and planning approval. If you cannot produce them you will be unlikely to sell you house until the position is regularised. If you happen to be in a conservation area or your house is a listed building it becomes a criminal offence to do what you propose without the appropriate authority. Far better to go and talk to the planners and save yourself a lot of potential problems.
If you leave aside any moral question, it depends how long you are going to be there. The Planning and Compensation act 1991 (which amends the Town and Country Planning act) states (at least from my reading of it) that enforcement action for breach of planning regulations for building on land cannot be taken after 4 years from the time of commencement of the works has elapsed. The only people likely to prompt enforcement action are the neighbours so, as long as you are on good terms with them...
Bob
Exactly my point. He is unlikely to be building a garage extension if he is about to move.
mrcheerful
Sorry but it is YOU who are missing the point. A lot can change in anyone's circumstances in a couple of years let alone four. If he does need to sell or as I stated it was in a conservation area then he could have quite a big problem on his hands.
Nothing to do with the morality or otherwise of doing the job without permission. My comment was directed at the reply that was inaccurate and incomplete.
Only 4 years - I thought it was 6? Anyway, I don't see that timescale as a problem. The only risk I can see is that the 'adjacent' neighbour is getting on a bit, so the worst case I can see is he dies/moves and the house is sold to someone who makes a complaint within the timeframe (although they wouldn't know how long ago it was built!) Not a conservation area so no problem there. I'm really just looking at all possible ideas at the moment out of frustration at lack of space.. a shed is a possible alternative. If I decide to extend the garage, seems like there is a balance of risks to consider : Apply for PP, risk of refusal, in which case I'm stuffed. Don't apply, do it anyway, risk of complaint, but if none, I'm clear after however many years.
Is there any limit on the building regs side of it - I would get it built properly, but obviously applying for BP may wake up the PP dept....?
As an aside, what constitutes 'commencement of works'. If I go out today and dig a trench for foundations, then build it 4 years later, is that OK...? just wondering.
conservation
and dig a trench for
I think that's a question that would be decided in court and I certainly don't know. I would *guess* that it would be when hard structure started going up, but it's only a guess, so don't take my word for it!
Well, there weren't actually any facts or definite opinions in mrcheerful's response, so it couldn't have been inaccurate! Incomplete on many fronts, certainly. Hopefully we have all now contributed to a greater level of completeness.
This is only a garage extension under discussion, not a high spec house extension with marble and gold plated taps.
In the event that there were a planning or building control issue, which there may or may not be anyway the thing could be demolished.
It therefore becomes a value judgment of whether to get involved with the local authority with all that that entails or to take a well defined risk.
If there is not a lot of investment of time and cost in building the garage extension then it may not make economic sense to bother, or it may be possible to organise the work such that it is exempt of requirements anyway.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
the garden (occupies the
extension maybe 6-8 feet into
Well, you might not require PP..... see page 5 of:
The nice thing is that because it's >5m from the house it doesn't even eat into the permitted development for your house.
Building regs may (will, I think) apply, but that's a separate matter. Time limit for PP is 4 years according to LB Richmond, AFAIK there is no time limit for building regs.
You've just got to watch out for extending towards a boundary if that boundary is actually a highway (including public footpaths). If so, PP will apply, according to my reading of the document.
-- Richard Sampson
email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk
'adjacent'
house is sold to
long ago it was
lack of space.. a
many years.
but obviously
There are fairly straightforward rules for both planning permission and building control for a project like this.
The main ones to watch are the area and height of the building, especially if an extension of the garage, and then distances from boundaries and roads and the total proportion of the plot developed.
You can get all of this from local authority web sites.
It is simple enough to come up with a scheme to legitimately avoid needing to deal with local government if you don't want to, and you can make a value judgment on the risks if you want to do something that is not strictly exempt if you wish.
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
and dig a trench for
There was a case locally where the building was under more or less continual construction over several years. The court ruling was that the time for the four year rule did not start until the last works. Sometimes planning and building control talk to each other and sometimes not. Normally the time limit for enforcement of building regulations is a year but as previously stated you can get caught by the declaration if you sell the property for which there is no time limit. The reason solicitors are insisting on a declaration is that one solicitor got sued because he did not ask and his client extracted a large five figure sum for the cost of putting the problems right. Obviously you can take a chance and you may be OK but don't complain if you get caught!
The rear boundary is a private access road, so I don't think this is an issue.
Thanks for all the info - I've done some searching, and as far as I can see, as the garage is >5m from the house, I don't need PP to extend to up to 50% of the area of the garden if the roof is < 3m (flat) or 4m (ridge). Even if I assume the original garage replaced garden, there's plenty of potential before I hit 50%!
I assume that PP was not required for the original garage (it was there when I bought the house), so there can't be any conditions attatched to it re. extension/usage.
According to info on my council's website, BP is not needed if the floor area is 8 years ago I'm presumably in the clear, but I wanted to avoid any risk of them nosing around and deciding it was liable for business rates! When I originally enquired, no-one could define the line between 'working from home' and 'use for business' - The best consensus was that there was an automatic right to work from your home, as long as this caused no inconvenience to others (deliveries, noise etc.).
The extension I'm thinking about is to get back some of the space lost from the office, and is not for business use.
For building works to become immune from planning enforcement action it must have been substantially complete for 4 yrs or more, for immunity from enforcement action under the B.Regs, it's 1 year
Whilst there are some irresponsibly advocating the OP takes a risk & just builds it, even if the council dont spot it or arent told about it and it becomes immune through time, the crunch will come when you try to sell it. Even if the absence of planning permission isn't abig thing (if the structure is over 4 yrs old), if you've also built it wiothouit B.Regs consent, it might be immune from enforcement action, but also a propspective purchaser has absolutely no guarantee that the structure is 'safe' or that it ar least meets a mimimum standard of construction. Most prospective purhcasers with an ounce of sense will walk away, and their lawyers would probably advise them to as well.
converted half the garage into an
whether this would require
I'm presumably in the clear,
That could be an important factor because they might ask for buiness rates going back six years or more if they consider it has been done fraudulently.
liable for business rates!
from home' and 'use for
work from your home, as
Hmm - could be - there are appeal decisons that have regarded a shared 'private' access road as a 'highway', and so a new structure between your house and that roadway might need permission - talk to your council!
converted half the garage into an
whether this would require
I'm presumably in the clear,
liable for business rates!
from home' and 'use for
work from your home, as
Unauthorised changes of use (as opposed to building works) don't gain immunity from planning enforcement action until 10 yrs have passed. However, it sounds like it's not really a material change of use, assuming it's just you/mrs working in there, no employees, etc, in which case the use of the property is still primarily residential.
Just talk to your local planners - in my experience of several councils, they are by and large helpful and are as keen to avoid unnecessary red tape as you!
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