had a visit from Council as doing a business in the garage

wantoknow_2

Hello
My friend is a single mum, rents two beds house with garden and a garage. She let her friend do a car business in her garage. He take parts from the broken cars and sells them on ebay. They have a new car by the garage every week. The waste is disposed safely. But she has car parts stored in her garden and the garage.
Today she found a card from the council on her door set, asking her to contact council as the neiboroughs complained that she has a business in her garage. Also he just let a unit to move all his stuff to on Saturday.

What is the best thing to do in this situation. what council can do? she unofficially helps him to sell parts on ebay. He registered as a sole trader a few weeks ago.

Thank you

InsideInsurance

Is she a private tenant or is it a council property?

Which department of the council has she been asked to ring?

There are a series of potential issues from breach of tenancy agreement if its social housing to breach of planning permission

wantoknow_2

Hello Inside Insurance
She is a private tenant
I think it was just a card with the name and a phone number but I will double check

Could you tell me what kind of issues could be discussed when she phones him? Thank you

Savvy_Sue

There's the need to pay business rates on that part of the property used for the business.

There's the need to apply for 'change of use' in some situations.

There's the need to be able to prove that all business waste is disposed of safely and commercially, ie NOT taken to the household tip or left in her bin.

But the more serious situation is that this is almost certainly a breach of her tenancy agreement (it most definitely would be if she was renting social housing), and if word gets back to her landlord she could be evicted. The neighbours have complained because she is causing a 'nuisance' by having a different car parked there every week (sometimes more than one, maybe?), by cars being broken up in the garage, by her friend coming and going to the garage.

Fortunately, she can honestly say that the business is moving out this weekend, so at least going forward she should be in the clear, but there are still historic problems which the council may or may not pursue.

wantoknow_2

I will be helping her to speak to the council. I am lost for words at the moment as cannot even imagine what they will be asking or telling her. Any advice please? we already agreed with the unit landlord and they will start moving things there tomorrow. where can I read about it. Just managed to find general info at the moment

atrixblue.-MFR-.

essentially he is a dismantler like a scrap yard is, you need allsorts of approvals and license to be able to do that kind thing.
key things here would be:


Where is he storing oil, petrol and diesel, what kind of spillage kit does he have and does he have the correct fire regulations in place and approved equipment.


where does he store the batteries and if any LPG tanks that some cars are converted with.


if he is storing batteries and fuel tanks in the garden, then the potential for pollutants to seep into the ground and possibly into the drains is a major hazard. also if he is storing petrol and diesel are they in proper containers and clearly marked with a no naked flame notice.


some parts have hydraulic fluid (power steering and brake/clutch) in them and this is also a hazard.


also a hazard are clutch friction plates old type one's may contain asbestos as well as old type brake pads.


if theres oil/petrol/diesel contamination damage outside onto the public highway, in the drains, and things are stored incorrectly, he's committing an offence.


The issues regarding the tenancy, IF private LET and your friend doesn't have permission from the "owner" then damage caused to property environmentally and visually become a very big issue in that your friend has a duty and responsibility to put all the damage environmentally regarding contamination to the soil and concrete on the property and in the garage, but also structurally if the garage has been modified to accommodate air tools, and visually to marks and grease on the walls and fixtures.
There would also be a issue for your friend regarding Letting the property commercially for business use and the tax rates that come with it.


I for one if I were to let a private I owned I would NOT allow subletting of any structure in the boundary lines and a tenant doing so would get notice of eviction due to breach of tenancy contract, have the damage assessed and pursue for those damages in court including the down time to repair and loss of rent.

Pennywise

wantoknow wrote: »

The waste is disposed safely.

So is he using a licensed waste carrier to remove the waste? If so, presumably he'll have waste transfer notices as proof of safe disposal?
If not and he's just taking the stuff to the tip himself and/or swilling any liquids into the ground or drainage system, he could be in serious trouble which is the kind of thing the council will jump all over.

Moving out is obviously good news, perhaps it will make the council forget about it and go away, but there's the risk that they'll prosecute.

With the new unit, as the council will know about it now, make sure that he complies with all the regulations, i.e. fire and spill precautions, proper waste disposal firm being used to take away fluids and waste etc., or he'll be getting another inspection and he won't get away with it twice if he isn't fully compliant.

wantoknow_2

Thank you so much for replying. I will print it out all and show it to them. it is so much they have to know and consider......

Mistral001

atrixblue.-MFR has hit the nail on the head. Garages are highly regulated.


It is very likely that some of the established garage people who have high overheads due to the regulations that have complained and quite understandably do not like losing business to this tenant of the OP's

wantoknow_2

just checked with my friend and yes he has been using licensed waste carrier and they got waste transfer notices, which is good I hope.

The council man was from Development and environment department

wantoknow_2

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Is she a private tenant or is it a council property?

Which department of the council has she been asked to ring?

There are a series of potential issues from breach of tenancy agreement if its social housing to breach of planning permission

The council man was from Development and environment department