Looking to buy a Care Home to convert back into a family home

SergeiUmanov

Apologies if this type of post doesn't fall under the remit of this board, or this particular form. I am after some brief planning advice.

Property currently C2 empty care home. The property has been long term empty and is now on the market for sale.

The property is vast and has planning permission lodged by the current owner to convert it back into a family home. There are however conditions attached. 1: the very large extension at the rear must come down to make way for a car parking space in the rear garden. NB: the rear of the property has a path giving a 'right of way' allowing for houses on this street to park in the rear and link up with the main road. The reality is no one parks in this space because there is ample residents parking on the front street.

Having spoken to the local planning authority they say because the change of use amounts to a 'new residential development' the 'new property' must contain at least one parking space within the curtilage of the property. They say to make space for this parking space I must knock down the extension at significant cost to me.

My question to anyone out there is whether a property which was once a family home and is now being converted back into a family home amounts to a 'new residential development' and is bound by this crazy rule.

googler

Has the planning application been approved?

If so, then it's been advertised, the public have had the chance to object, the applicant has apparently been satisfied, and the planning committee has approved it.

Is the planning process a 'crazy rule' ?

onlyroz

How many bedrooms does the property have and how many parking spaces currently exist on land within the boundary. We recently wanted to convert our 3-bed house to a 4-bed and one of the conditions of planning approval was that we added an extra parking space. The guidelines for new developments are that a 2-bed needs one space, a 3-bed needs two spaces and a 4-bed needs three spaces. And so on.

justjohn

Have you got finance for this property. I would think a straight residential mortgage will be full of red tape.

The parking rule, if it was in Scotland is correct(assume England is same). If its a planning rule you could appeal it, but you will not win.

googler

The time for appealling against a planning decision is before the decision is made, surely?

Sounds like planning has been granted with conditions, and the time for objection has passed.

justjohn

Planning can be altered and appealed. Plans can be altered and submitted.

AdrianC

SergeiUmanov wrote: »

Having spoken to the local planning authority they say because the change of use amounts to a 'new residential development'

Which it is. You're changing a property from commercial to residential.

the 'new property' must contain at least one parking space within the curtilage of the property.

Different local authorities will have different rules for this kind of thing - and, even within one authority's area, different rules may be applied according to the local circumstances. If your local authority say "We'll only grant permission if there's off-road parking", then that's their prerogative. You can appeal that, all the way to the Home Secretary if you wish. But there ain't nothing to say you'll necessarily win. All that's guaranteed to happen is you'll spend a lot of money.

They say to make space for this parking space I must knock down the extension at significant cost to me.

Is there any other way to make an off-road parking space?

dimbo61

If the property is vast could you build a garage into the existing extension? to provide the parking space.
Do you need the extension ? and how well built is the property?
Planning can be a nightmare ( I have been to appeal) and costs!!!!

RLH33

How big is the extension? It seems very onerous to require the demolition of part of a building to provide parking.

Personally if I really wanted to keep the extension I would apply to remove the condition, argue strongly that this is not 'new residential' it is a change from one type of residential to another. I would also argue strongly that whilst their policy may say it requires off street parking the building has operated for x amount of years without and a change to a single dwelling house will significantly reduce the amount of pressure on on street parking and vehicle movements in comparison. A care home will have regularly deliveries, visitors, staff etc all coming and going compared with one house with far fewer movements per day.

If they refuse it, appeal!

de_g.

RLH33 wrote: »

How big is the extension? It seems very onerous to require the demolition of part of a building to provide parking.

Personally if I really wanted to keep the extension I would apply to remove the condition, argue strongly that this is not 'new residential' it is a change from one type of residential to another. I would also argue strongly that whilst their policy may say it requires off street parking the building has operated for x amount of years without and a change to a single dwelling house will significantly reduce the amount of pressure on on street parking and vehicle movements in comparison. A care home will have regularly deliveries, visitors, staff etc all coming and going compared with one house with far fewer movements per day.

If they refuse it, appeal!

It doesn't matter whether it's new residential or change from one type to another - there's no permitted development for changes from C2 (care home etc) to C3 (dwellinghouse). I suspect the LA wouldn't be too happy with that though, as it's a pretty major change - might be better submitting a full application anyway as that's cheaper than a variation of condition.

OP - your best bet is to get some proper advice. Pay for a few hours from a planning consultant, and take them along to a pre-application meeting with the planners. There may be several grounds on which you can justify it - alternative provision, not needed, no longer consistent with policy, etc - and without knowing which local authority area it is in it would be impossible to give any more realistic information.