Advice regarding house extension

Jupiter89

A review of the documentation for a house extension in England that was completed in 1990 appears to show that the extension has planning permission but may not have passed the post-build inspection. The document has the following:
- A detailed drawing/plan of the extension exactly as it was built with labels explaining measurements, material used, direction of pipes etc.
- The plan/drawing was created by an architectural planning and building surveyor and has the signature of the person it was drawn by.
- It includes two revisions and the dates 1989 and 1990.
- It includes three stamps as follows (not numbered in any way just dated), the first has a council stamp with 'amended', a plan and application number and the stamp includes 'deposited 1990', the second is another council stamp with 'passed 1990' and it has 'building act 1984, building regulations 1985'. Finally, there is a also a pink stamp with 'this is not an approval under the planning act' and this is not dated.


Questions:
1. Has the document been correctly interpreted ie that there is planning permission for the
extension but no building approval?
2. If the interpretation of the document is correct, what are the implications (if any), given that
the extension was built 26 years ago?
3. What, if any, action should be taken to remedy the situation?

Many thanks

Hoploz

A sketch plan for Planning approval is completely different to working drawings for building control approval.

If it was built 26 years ago no enforcement will happen if permissions were not granted.

What is the actual situation/problem you have?

Jupiter89

There is a potential boundary dispute and for this reason I have been reviewing the property documentation and have noticed that the documents for the extension do not appear to be in order.

It is possible that some repairs might be needed to gain necessary approval and would therefore like to know how best to rectify the situation.

Hoploz

In what way not in order?

Are these plans of your neighbour's house rather than yours? You have incomplete information.

What's the actual problem?

Jupiter89

The plans are for my property not my neighbour's. I would like to ensure that all of the property documentation is in order, including for the extension. This is in order to put me in a stronger position for the boundary dispute.

The problem is that there is a denial of approval stamp on the extension document and the extension is not showing as approved building on the council website.

davidmcn

Jupiter89 wrote: »

another council stamp with 'passed 1990' and it has 'building act 1984, building regulations 1985'.

That appears to indicate that it has building regulations approval.

there is a also a pink stamp with 'this is not an approval under the planning act' and this is not dated.

That appears to be just a reminder that building regulations and planning consent are separate processes (you frequently see similar notes on consents). Doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't a planning consent (or that any was required).

But after 26 years, I don't think any of this is of great relevance.

Minnie999

I wonder whether a survey would help to clarify whether there is a problem or not and if so what to do about it, prior to you tackling the boundary dispute?

eddddy

Jupiter89 wrote: »

The plans are for my property not my neighbour's. I would like to ensure that all of the property documentation is in order, including for the extension. This is in order to put me in a stronger position for the boundary dispute.

Your post is a little vague, but it's hard to see how planning consent would be relevant to a boundary dispute.

For example, an applicant can be granted planning consent to build an extension on land they don't own, or to build an extension that straddles a boundary line.

The planning authority don't investigate land ownership or boundaries, and they are not relevant considerations for planning purposes.

Hoploz

Is it because the plans you've got show a line which is indicating the boundary, which you believe your neighbour has breached?

If so then as already said, plans for extensions do not necessarily accurately show these boundaries. The most accurate document is the title, available from the Land Registry. If you don't have a copy you can download it from their website for I think £3. However, bear in mind that due to scaling, even this document is only indicative of the boundaries, as a thin pencil line equates to something like 18 inches when scaled up.

It's best if you can locate physical boundaries such as signs of old metal boundary fences.

Of course, I'm still trying to guess what your situation is as it is still rather vague.