Outbuilding height more then 2.5 metres - 4 year rule?

dellboy102

Hi

I have a work colleague who's just purchased a house, in their garden there is a outbuilding (about 35 sq metres he reckons) right against his back fence, its got a pretty much flat roof with a slight slope but its about 2.8 metres rather then the limit which is 2.5, it looks like its been in place for years however.

My question was as its been their for over 4 years is there anything for him to worry about?

I've had a look online and theres lots of info on the height (if near boundary) should be 2.5 metres but cant find much else..

Advice appreciated

TheCyclingProgrammer

No, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, see:
http://www.hip-consultant.co.uk/blog/planning-permission-not-obtained-123/

You are right that the height limit is 2.5m if within 2m of the *boundary*, so assuming the fence is the actual boundary then it doesn't meet permitted development and is in breach of planning rules but assuming he can easily show its been there for over 4 years then I don't think any enforcement action can be taken.

In addition, it would probably only be brought to the council's attention if somebody complained about it and if its been there that long and it hasn't happened by now, it probably never will.

Surprised this never came up as an issue during the conveyancing process - solicitors do love to flog indemnity policies for this kind of thing.

magn8p

Had a similar experience of late with an outbuilding (garage/man cave) built by previous owner. My solicitors (who were never proactive throughout the process) never noticed it until I flagged it after reading a similar question here.

I guess OP/his friend had a solicitor like mine who were happy as long as the sale went through.

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

Surprised this never came up as an issue during the conveyancing process - solicitors do love to flog indemnity policies for this kind of thing.

Davesnave

magn8p wrote: »

Had a similar experience of late with an outbuilding (garage/man cave) built by previous owner. My solicitors (who were never proactive throughout the process) never noticed it until I flagged it after reading a similar question here.

I guess OP/his friend had a solicitor like mine who were happy as long as the sale went through.

The solicitors won't be on site to measure it, so they will assume it is within planning guidelines, unless the purchaser raises it as a possible issue.

The examination of a site and its paperwork is a two way thing, because there are so many possible ways for complications and discrepancies to arise.

There should be no 'leave it to the solicitor.'

The outbuilding will be fine. If anyone was going to kick-off about it, they'd have done so. Local authorities are too busy to go looking for minor breaches, or in this case, historical ones.

dellboy102

Thank you all for the replies very useful