Original house builder approval for alterations – is this a scam or what?

rocky39

This is definately not unusual.

I work for a double glazing company and we obtain all necessary permissions when we build a conservatory.

The vast majority of builders/leaseholders all charge fees to give permission which is on top of planning permission etc.

We find that fees range anywhere from £50 up to almost £400 in some cases.

If we !!!!-up and have to get permission retrospectively the general rule of thumb seems to be that they double their fees!!

21castlehill

Did you all get permission to erect your sattelite dishes? I had to pay £25 for that just after shelling out another fee for a garage, oh & the builder still has the mineral rights for my plot as well so if they ever find oil here I wont be able to drill for it in my own garden. They have shrewd legal teams these big developers.

Richard_Webster

Builders insert these clauses to stop them losing out because Planning Policies change. For instance they may have been forced to design their estate layout with some larger than average gardens to meet current planning criteria as to density or other issues. So if Planning criteria are relaxed locally, then sometimes a property owner can get permission to build another house in his garden and the builder then feels he has lost out so wants a share of the profit that the house owner makes. My local Council in their capacity as former landowner are charging £10-£20K for consent to build another house in the side garden of a sold Council House!

Most of the time this doesn't happen and so it is a minor source of cashflow to some builders to charge admin fees for giving consent for conservatories etc.

If I have local knowledge of the level of charge and the speed of consent from a particular builder then I will approach him. If I am not sure whether he will give a consent, or suspect the application for it could get lost in national builder' s internal bureaucracy and delay a sale, or know that the charge is likely to be excessive, then I would look to get a restrictive covenant indemnity policy instead. A major provider will give one for a house worth up to £200K for £160 provided that (a) nobody has approached the builder and (b) the work is more than 12 months old.


As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients.