Neighbour's Extension - Planning Permission Advice

[Hacienda71]

Lawfulness is only achieved after iirc 10 years or so. So even if works are finished you have plenty of time to complain if the end product does not reflect the consent granted.

 

[screenman]

Lawfulness is only achieved after iirc 10 years or so. So even if works are finished you have plenty of time to complain if the end product does not reflect the consent granted.

3 years according to the Lincoln mob. Mind you a more uninterested bunch you would be hard to find.

 

[Beebo]

If their extension is the same size as others in the road then your objection will probably fail due to precedent being set.

 

[sight-pin]

I not sure if things are still the same now days, but it used to be build to roof level then another inspection is needed before the roof structure is allowed to go ahead, maybe you could have a quiet word with the building inspector if you see him.

 

[Hover Fly]

If it doesn't match the submitted plans the inspectors will (or should) be all over it. One local case involving an extension, Mrs. Homeowner came out to the builders and told them to move the walls out a bit further, about 3 brick lengths. Building finished, the SLDC inspector paid a visit, result, the whole lot had to come down and be rebuilt to the plan.

 

[screenman]

Local one here, window that should not have been there, very limited insulation, not disability entrance, no provision for rainwater disposal, gas outlet over neighbour and the list goes on. The inspector called after 3 years and 2 years later nothing changed.

Further down the road a garden with 50 cars in it, council said they were taking him to court in 2011, the cars are still there, despite an order.

Further down the road but still in the village a large commercial tyre recycling business, this operated for 5 years without planning permission, when pulled up he applied retrospectively and got it. He thought he had won the lottery, you just cannot get places to run this kind of business from cheaply and legally.

Lincoln council, I doubt they can find the way out of the office.

 

[colly]

Without going into long boring descriptions of what our neighbours did with regards to extensions and new walls etc etc it seems the councils are keener than ever on breaches of planning guidlines and agreed plans.
After complaints from various neighbours the inspector called round while the construction was underway and advised them they were going wrong in a number of respects. Naturally they chose to ignore the advice and built a garage (small bungalow) in the garden which was 16'' too tall, extended the roof space right to the outer wall which had to be paired back by 5', built a wall around some scavaged land that was 2' too tall and various other odds and ends. In the end they had to remedy all of that and they were taken to court for deliberately breaching planning regulations and the two owners were fined £8000 each with £2000 costs between them. So an expensive effort all round for them.

It made relations kind of tense for a while but we get on OK now.

Edit: They did the building themselves. (and it shows)

 

[matiz]

As someone who has built hundreds of extensions over the years I would have a word with the neighbors first ,builders dont usually waste bricks for the sake of it ,it could be problems matching ceiling heights or floor levels ,ive often had to add a couple of course of brick to the building height the plans arent always accurate ,and be prepared for world war 3 if the neighbors have to spend a fortune changing things.

 

[TissoT]

Having Knowledge of building extensions ... you need to ring the council and ask to have a meeting with the building inspector
which as been assigned for this job and tell him/her your concerns .

Sometimes the builder may have instructed a private inspector to overlook the building work/regs
the council will know who they are .

 

[furball]

If you believe that what is being constructed isn't what was given permission you need to complain to the planning department now. Even if there was a practical reason for a deviation from the permitted develpment, your neighbour should have consulted with the planning department before going ahead and making the changes.

 

[matiz]

Having Knowledge of building extensions ... you need to ring the council and ask to have a meeting with the building inspector
which as been assigned for this job and tell him/her your problems.

The builder may have discussed things with the inspector ,thats why I suggested having a word witth the neighbor to find out if they had found a problem

 

[MarkF]

As someone who has built hundreds of extensions over the years I would have a word with the neighbors first ,builders dont usually waste bricks for the sake of it ,it could be problems matching ceiling heights or floor levels ,ive often had to add a couple of course of brick to the building height the plans arent always accurate ,and be prepared for world war 3 if the neighbors have to spend a fortune changing things.

Bang on.

 

[Hacienda71]

Building regs are not the same as planning consent. You don't need planning consent to obtain building regs. You do need to comply with building regs when complying with planning though.

 

[Over The Hill]

Summing up and a few pointers-
Right of light - is a non starter- it is how much is left rather than what is taken. don't go there.
Objecting to plan - all passed now and you were OK with the plan.
Next door has an obligation to build as per plan. If the significantly change it then they need to re-apply and you can object.

Option 1 is just say to them they are not to plan. They may say F-off and then you have ww3.
Option 2 is to go to the planning officer dealing with it (on the consent) and say that it is not built as per plan and you want them to enforce the plan. That is a good option as neighbour will not know if it is you objecting or just the eagle-eyed planner doing his job.

Do make sure that it really is out by a fair bit and that they have not just drawn your kitchen roof or whatever reference point too high.

They then have to conform to plan or submit an amendment to the plan.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Barnet Goat]

Thanks Over The Hill.

Spoke to the builder managing the extension and as soon as the words 'enforcement officer' were mentioned the tone became very conciliatory. After a meeting with the neighbours and builder it would appear that the wall will built as per my understanding of their planning application. I am choosing to believe that it was all a genuine misunderstanding between the architect/neighbours/builder.

Thank you to everyone else who replied.