Enforcement Notice Served - What if?

rick08

Hi,

So I bought a house with a enforcement notice served to demolish the existing extension.

I was thinking, what if I remove the roof and side wall to knee high and turn this into a conservatory?

The current extension is under the 30m2 permitted level for the semi-detached house, can I just turn this into a conservatory?

The issue is the notice has been served.

Thanks
Rick

theartfullodger

What answer did you get when you asked the council if that was OK??

Not much point us guessing what they might say ...

spacey2012

Was the notice served to a PERSON.
Is this person you ? if not they need a new notice.

tim123456789

What have the council's planning department told you is necessary?

tim

rick08

spacey2012 wrote: »

Was the notice served to a PERSON.
Is this person you ? if not they need a new notice.

I haven't even thought of that, the notice was issued to a person (the previous owner)

The previous owner appealed the notice and did not turn up for hearing so they issued the enforcement decision

I now own the property so does that mean that they have to issue a NEW notice, so I can now appeal again?

That sounds great!

Richard_Webster

An Enforcement Notice will go in Local Land Charges Register so will be binding on any buyer.

Also in Planning (as opposed to Building Regulation) terms a conservatory is still an extension, so if an extension needed planning permission then a conservatory the same size would too.

rick08

tim123456789 wrote: »

What have the council's planning department told you is necessary?

tim

So here is some background on the property.

So the previous owner built an valid 3m (under 30m2 total) but illegal extension in 2005. 5 years later he crazily added an additional 3m to the existing extension and made the roof one

He denied officers entry and did not turn up for hearing, so the enforcement decision is to remove the WHOLE extension has one, rather than just the additional extension??? Which makes sense because to them it looks like one room externally

I am hoping to somehow keep the original extension with the current enforcement decision issued?

rick08

Richard_Webster wrote: »

An Enforcement Notice will go in Local Land Charges Register so will be binding on any buyer.

Also in Planning (as opposed to Building Regulation) terms a conservatory is still an extension, so if an extension needed planning permission then a conservatory the same size would too.

I see, the original extension is under 30m2, only 9 feet out and 12 feet wide

So I was thinking if I convert this, to the legal definition of a conservatory, so 75% area of roof glass and 50% wall is 'Translucent'. The way i understood this, you do no need planning permission as there will be no electrical and there will be no internal opening between the house and conservatory (so there will be external doors between conservatory and house)?

But thinking of the order of which events occur, do I need to clear site and then build legal permitted level from scratch. Or are they just concerned with everything being legal - so next time the come over they see a legal conservatory instead of an illegal extension.

I am getting my information from planning portal gov website

Please correct me if I am wrong? Thanks

ValHaller

I hope you knew what you were taking on when you bought the place ....

My suggestion is to get plans drawn up and check that the proposal is permitted development. Then apply to the council for a Certificate of Lawful Development. If that suits you as a plan, I suggest you write to the council, introducing yourself as the new owner acknowledging the issue and stating your intention to rectify the situation with a permitted development and ask for their forbearance while you resolve the matter.

G_M

As previously advised: Take some photos, the original plans, and the enforcement notice, and pop in to the council offices. They may vary (might need an appointment?), but at my council you can simply go in and ask to speak to a planner, and within 5 - 10 minutes the on-duty chappie comes out and has a brief chat.

You show him all your bumf (so he can quickly understand the background), explain your problem, and your potential plans, and he says:

* that looks OK as far as I can see (no commitment; not binding) you need to do XYZ. OR
* No way that will work. You're wasting your time. OR
* Hmm, maybe but I doubt it. A better plan would be ABC - have a think about that

planning_officer

Late response - but there is a simple answer to this. As others have said, the Enforcement Notice runs with the land, not a person - so you are bound by what it says.

You say the Enforcement Notice has been served, so I'm not sure if you mean it's come into force yet, or whether you are still in the period during which you can appeal. If it's in force, it's too late to appeal and you HAVE to demolish the whole extension, as set out in the Notice, as it is a criminal offence not to do so. The Council can then do it by force or prosecute you - and people have gone to prison for such an offence. So it is not a matter to take lightly - you have to do exactly as the Enforcement Notice says. There is no negotiation at this stage and no getting round the terms of the Notice.

If the Notice has been served but hasn't yet come into effect, you can appeal. There are several grounds on which you can appeal, and you will need some planning advice from a local planning agent.