House planning

filipo

Hi,

I am trying to find out what the laws and regulations are regarding planning permission on shared ground.

When i say shared ground - my gran in her last will and testiment has given a piece of land to my father and uncle. They dont own it, they only have the use of the land for the rest of their days. After which it is passed full ownership to my uncles son.

Currently my uncles son is applying for planning permission on said land. A few years ago he requested my father to sign a planning form, for which my father refused as he wanted to get legal advice as to how developments could even pass on shared ground or how this would effect his part of the will.

Now from this i am guessing that what my uncles son was asking my father to sign some form of consent to allowing planning permission. In accordance with the will is it possible that my uncles son can not get planning permission without my fathers signature?
I am concerned as recently a neighbours hedgerow was removed next to the land in question - possibly sight lines being implemented?

If anyone knows the exact regulation in this situation that would be great. Id also be keen to find out if anyone knows the name or code for the form that required my fathers signature as he cant recall it at present.

Many thanks in advance.

Fuzzyness

so who actually owns the land at this point in time? your dad, uncle or cousin?

giving someone rights to use land doesnt necessarily mean that they own it. if your cousin already owns it then there is nothing stopping him putting an application in for planning permission.

filipo

Currently it is in my uncles son's name. However the land is agricultural in nature which was the reason the will indicated the use for my dad and uncle to have the use of it for the rest of their days.

It strikes me as strange that he required my fathers signature previously so thats why i asked if there was regulation in place in this situation. I know that when applying for planning permission that you are required to show title deeds etc for the land, which leads me to believe that my father name is mentioned somewhere specifically and therefore planning agency requires my fathers signature.

princeofpounds

Anyone can apply for planning permission, even if they don't own the land and have never met the owner.

However, the barrier comes once development work starts. As someone with a right to use the land your father would be able to apply to a court for an injunction to cease work and restore the field if he liked. But the onus is on him to defend his right to use the land.

Which is why I'm not sure how getting his signature on a planning form is even necessary, or effective as a 'dirty trick'.

Have no specific knowledge of NI though, so the above statement is really England-based but I am not sure why it would be that different.

Fuzzyness

if your father doesnt own it, does he have some form of agricultural tenancy which allows him to use it? if so, your cousin would have had to notify him that an application was being submitted.

under planning law you are required to notify someone if you are submitting an application on land that is within there ownership e.g. if i submitted an applicaiton for a house on your back garden i would have to notify you that i was submitting an application.

other than this notification procedure there is no need for a signature per se when submitting an application.

building any development that is granted planning permisison may requrie some form of signature in order to sort out the legal rights to develop said land.

filipo

Thanks for that. I suppose that makes sense and it would be a risk to my cousin to build considering he is well aware of the objections to it currently in place. Can he then go through court or anything to force my father to allow development on the land if planning is granted?

Fuzzyness

he could try but if your father has rights to use the land then in my view your cousin would be unsucessful, but it would come down to the rights that your father has on the land.

filipo

To answer your question regarding its use Fuzzyness, both my father and uncle are farmers and use the land as such. Therefore to build a considerably sized site would give my father even less land to share with my uncle which in my opinion would be the major hurdle to my cousin trying to develop.

Fuzzyness

how long is your father likely to continue to farm the land? your cousin could be looking to get a planning permission in place now so that he could start developing once the farming use by your father ceases. if that isnt likely to happen in the next 5 years he seems to be jumping the gun.

princeofpounds

Can I ask a stupid question... why hasn't he just asked what is going on?