Driveway/Planning Permission Advice

Tilly5

Please can anyone assist? I have been contacted by a planning enforcement officer today regarding our driveway and need advice as I cant find regulations online.

1. Driveway consisted of concrete with a solid concrete disabled ramp and was replaced with gravel. There are two rows of cobbles before the gravel meets the pavement but I have been advised that planning regulations state gravel must not be within 2m of the pavement? Is this correct? I have been instructed to make changes to the driveway to this effect

2. This is a bit more complicated and regards the dreaded shared driveway - When I bought the property there was shared driveway access to the front but my neighbours erected a fence on the boundary so I moved my concrete post so I could still access my driveway. I did not receive any notice of the fence installation if this makes a difference. The council have advised that I need to move my post back due to pedestrian crossing which is 2m away from the edge of the new post. If I do this I will lose all access to the original shared driveway space and have been informed the fence is a legal matter. The deeds are hundreds of years old and do not refer to driveways so I am not sure on how well this could be dealt with. However I am confused as there is a dropped kerb already instated which is 75% on my property boundary and 25% on the neighbouring property? When the dropped kerb was installed would the pedestrian crossing not have been reviewed and ultimately the dropped kerb refused?

Either way, the whole situation is made worse that I have actually sold the property and I am due to move in three weeks and have only just been advised of this today.

Can anyone help? I am feeling very confused and upset!

DTDfanBoy

Tilly5 wrote: »

Either way, the whole situation is made worse that I have actually sold the property and I am due to move in three weeks and have only just been advised of this today.

Can anyone help? I am feeling very confused and upset!

Well if you've sold the house you've effectively sold the problem with it so I don't see how it makes the situation any worse for yourself

It's pretty unlikely that the council will take enforcement action within the next few weeks, so all you need to do is run the matter past your solicitor to see if anything has to be disclosed to the purchasers.

Chanes

Whoever you have sold it to has a conundrum, that is if you have exchanged? If you haven't exchanged you really need some legal advice from a solicitor esp. conveyancing. I can think of properties with dropped kerbs near crossings though there must be some regulation on proximity.

The issues around planning enforcement can be torturous but they are usually correct in what they ask for.

The fence that was installed, is it wooden or concrete? From what I understand a concrete fence line forms a boundary but a wooden one doesn't. Did you ever challenge them about the fence?

Tilly5

Thanks for your advice, its daft but I have been out and measured the distance and its 5.6m away to the nearest post for the crossing to the edge of the driveway. The neighbouring properties driveway is less than 1m away? It just seems crazy that I have to go to the lengths of contesting. The house across the road has a driveway that backs directly on to the crossing too...

Unfortunately we aren't exchanged and I am too honest to leave without sorting. I have left a message for my solicitor to contact me to find out what the options are. The council are demanding I put the concrete post back and with three weeks to go I'm short on time.

The fence is wood but with the type that slots into concrete bases. It is on the boundary as defined by the land registry so there is no hope there it would be more be a right of way as it would have existed for over 20 years but even then it is so complicated.

I would also hate to be the person that pushes and ends up having everyones driveways taken away, although it is a busy main through route/bus route and I can't see the point in crowding the highway with at least six extra cars? The mind boggles!

Hoploz

It's hard to imagine what this looks like - it's the concrete post thing I'm most confused about. Can it be removed altogether? Or is it attached to a fence?

Seems to me it will prob not be sorted within three weeks, so my guess is you will have your sale delayed while the buyer gets his head around the issues (at best) Then you will either need to rectify to the council's satisfaction, or reduce the price so your seller can do so in their own time.

Furts

It appears to me you had a concrete driveway which was probably established and fine. This may have pre-dated notions of Planning for driveways and rainwater run off.

The drive been replaced by gravel - never a good idea in built up areas and besides highways. It is a quick and cheap solution, but the problem is vehicles scuff the gravel when turning on and off the drive. The end result is gravel on the highway. Hence I can understand the Council being unhappy.

You also need to consider drainage and ask questions of the Council. The enforcement might also be because you are discharging water onto the highway, and this is also washing your gravel onto the highway. If so, I can again see the Council being unhappy.

The mere fact that an Enforcement Officer has visited you indicates you have not followed fundamental procedures. I doubt this individual has made a mistake - driveways and drainage are everyday matters to these people.

parking_question_chap

Not sure that gravel is an issue, I might be wrong though.

You certaintly cant allow water run off to drain towards a highway though.

Ozzuk

Gravel could be an issue, it can wash into the road and be dangerous for cyclists/motorbikers. We had a gravel lane and the council concreted the end of it and put in drainage - didn't even tell us they were doing it.

Have you sold the house with a driveway or 'as is'. If as-is then they buyers must know what they are getting so just leave it. If you sold it with driveway then you need to sort something or likely lose the sale (driveway will impact value of property).

david1951

By all means confirm with your solicitor, but you almost certainly need to disclose this to your vendor. If (when) they are made to fix this problem by the council they could sue you for costs. Since 2013 seller's have been required to inform any potential buyer of material information that may affect a buyer’s decision to purchase a property. It is no longer "caveat emptor".

Furts

david1951 wrote: »

By all means confirm with your solicitor, but you almost certainly need to disclose this to your vendor. If (when) they are made to fix this problem by the council they could sue you for costs. Since 2013 seller's have been required to inform any potential buyer of material information that may affect a buyer’s decision to purchase a property. It is no longer "caveat emptor".

It is also a strange area to be considering and commenting on. A drive made of gravel is not an approved surface and neither is it deemed good practice. The Enforcement Officer need only quote the building of new homes and drives where such construction has been forbidden for decades.

Hence a buyer can see the drive is formed of gravel, so can any surveyor doing a survey of the property. It begs the question why this was not raised earlier. It also begs the question has the gravel drive been factored into the sale price?

david1951

Furts wrote: »

It is also a strange area to be considering and commenting on. A drive made of gravel is not an approved surface and neither is it deemed good practice. The Enforcement Officer need only quote the building of new homes and drives where such construction has been forbidden for decades.

Hence a buyer can see the drive is formed of gravel, so can any surveyor doing a survey of the property. It begs the question why this was not raised earlier. It also begs the question has the gravel drive been factored into the sale price?

An interesting point - I was not aware that gravel is not an approved surface but I would certainly expect my surveyor to be. All of this may have been factored into the sale price but the issue of the Enforcement Officer turning up will still very likely need to be disclosed.

On a side note, I assume that the gravel can just be collected up and taken away to solve the problem. I'd be more worried about having to move the post back.