Help!! Planning permission issue

[Gunstar_Hero 10]

Hi 

 

I was wondering if anyone could help me, with an issue that has been raised

 

I bought a house two years ago and all the surveys revealed no issues so I bought the properties, however a month ago a planning officer from Sheffield Council came around to inform me that there is an outstanding case on my property 

 

The case is to do with the rear decking, the fencing separating it from my neighbour isn't the correct height.  The case was originally raised four years ago, and the person who raised the case  had left the neighbouring property before I moved in.  

 

I have no objection to installing higher fencing, however I have to go through the full planning procedure which will cost £200 plus whatever cost I will need to find someone who can draft the documentation for me, and its money I simply don't have at the moment, is there any way i can appeal? or I'm I stuck and somehow have to find the funds? 

 

Any help gratefully received, thank you

[JamesR123 0]

I would have thought that it would be the solicitors that should have found this rather than the surveyors. All the surveyors do is check for structural issues.

 

Contact the solicitors you instructed to do the conveyancing.

[lil-minx92 10]

Sounds strange to me. You sure it was a planning officer??

You dont need PP for decking, but if it formed part of some work that did need PP (like an extension) there may have been a condition attached to the permission designed to protect a neighbours privacy. I'm not sure whether a solicitor would have picked up that a condition hadnt been met because they dont generally go out to the property- they would just check that PP was granted for the works. They should have however (i would expect), raised it with you to satisfy yourself that the conditions had been met. If you dont have this in writing you could try a claim against them for the loss you face.

I cant think why you would need to submit a new planning application though.

[Voice of reason 0]

Sounds dodgy to me. Are you sure they were from planning and not Bodgit & Scarper fencing contractors?

Also why would you need to go through planning again if it's legit? Just put the fence up and it meets the planning permission.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

On 22/05/2019 at 09:02, JamesR123 said:

I would have thought that it would be the solicitors that should have found this rather than the surveyors. All the surveyors do is check for structural issues.

 

Contact the solicitors you instructed to do the conveyancing.

Yes. Any problems ought to have been revealed by:

a. the vendor's replies to the usual TA6 questionnaire/information form;

b. the Local Authority's result of the standard LLC1 search form; or

c. the Local Authority's replies to the standard CON29R Local Authority Enquiries form.

 

Sometimes, esp. where replies are uncertain/inadequate, the solicitor might also have obtained an Indemnity Insuranmce policy.

 

In any case, as JamesR123 advises, re-check what your solicitor did when acting on your purchase.

[Pretzel 10]

Decking over 200mm from ground level does require planning consent. Only decking below this height is exempt under the Town and Country Planning Permitted Development order 2015.   The council can only really take enforcement action if the issue is causing a problem (eg privacy) - otherwise you could easily appeal against an enforcement notice.  My suggestion is to build the fence up to the height it needs to be (my guess is 1.8m) and then tell the enforcement officer/planning officer that this is what you've done.  They should then close the case, as it would no longer be in the public interest to pursue enforcement.  (Unless they then think the fence would overshadow your neighbour, but that's a different story - and unlikely if they've suggested the fence!)

Ps, solicitors can sometimes be a bit clueless as to what needs consent, and decking can often be missed in conveyancing...