garage permitted development

DBH719K

Hi
I am in the process of buying a repo with a large wooden garage at the bottom of the garden 7m by 5.75m and 2.4m high with flat roof. A neighbour thinks it has been there about three years and is not aware of any problems with it. Does anyone know what the maximum dimensions are for permitted development? I do not want to ask the council in case it opens a can of worms as I really want to keep the garage.

Sean

Debt_Free_Chick

Your solicitor should assess this as part of the conveyancing, but a few things for you to look at ....

Is the garage shown on the title plan? Look in the HIP

Was the garage put up three years ago the first garage on that plot? Or was a replacement for an existing garage?

What do the neighbouring properties have - a garage? or not?

DBH719K

It is not shown on the title plan dated 1986 but there is one on the water board drainage plan with no date. I will have to get my sol to check with water company to try and get a date out of them. If it turns out to be less than four years does size matter;) for permitted development?

Debt_Free_Chick

Yes - size and purpose matters for PD, but the owner may have got PP for it at the time.

Nothing in the HIP?

DBH719K

Unfortunately no info in the HIP, being a repo bank are just saying 'sold as seen'. I have asked them to pay for indemnity insurance just in case I buy it and some council jobsworth turns up and says tear it down. There are plenty of other garages in the street but I am a FTB with no experience in these matters, guess I will just have to let my sol sort it out.

hethmar

If you think size of a double garage building - that seems to be the allowed one And if its wooden and has no foundations I dont think youd need pp anyway as it would be termed as a temporary building??? Why dont you just ring your local council and ask general questions about a wooden building to be used as a garage?

PasturesNew

If you look on various different websites that show aerial photos of houses, they can be quite old. Each website uses a different set of photos, so you can get 2-3 different older photos (you won't know the age of them though). e.g. my old house, the aerial shot shows a garage I removed in 2001. Another aerial shot on another site shows the replacement garage.

Look on
http://maps.google.co.uk
http://www.aboutmyplace.co.uk

Also Google Earth and any sites that offer you an aerial shot.

WillowCat

The permitted development rules have changed quite recently (this year), but assuming the garage was already erected, then the old rules allowed:

(assuming not in conservation area/AONB/national park etc)

If more than 5 metres from property, and not forward of the front of house then can be any size, providing not more than 3m high (flat roof) or 4m high (ridge). However, the total of all outbuildings mustn't cover more than 50% of garden.

Separately, building regs approval would have been needed if greater than 30 sq metres (which it is)......if garage is wooden then the biggest hurdle with building regs is needing to be >1metre from the boundary. However, I don't think building regs can be enforced if the garage has been in place at least a year?

DBH719K

Thanks to all
Sounds like it should be ok, it is on the boundary but neighbour reckons it is at least three years old.

ryan85k

Wow...... hold up. The people above have given you bad advice.

1). have there been any previous extensions on the property.
2). are the permitted development rights intact on the property? some properties have no permitted development rights.
3). have you searched on the local authority website to see if any previous planning approvals have been granted.
4). if permitted development rights are intact, there have been no previous developments which swallow your allowance (70m cubed for semi or detached), the property is not within a conservation area (this reduces the limit to 50m cubed) or a listed building then the likelyhood is that you are ok.

If you need any help just PM me.

DBH719K

As the garage has been there for some time and no one has complained I think I will keep quiet and get the vendor to pay for indemnity insurance just in case.