Where to find planing permission - not on council portal

TamsinC

I am buying house with a converted 'byre' into an annex and holiday let. This 'byre' was an office in 2013 with lapsed planning for an annex. The current owners have converted it into a holiday let (bathroom and kitchen included) so counts as an annex. Trouble is I cant find either the original nor the (I assume) reapplication on the local council planning portal. The 2nd application should have been done post 2013.

So, 2 questions - a) is there anywhere else to find the planning applications? b) if there is no planning consent would a Certificate of Lawfulness be what we need the vendors to provide, and any idea how long that might take should it be necessary? (i'm not sure an indemnity policy cuts it really)

The original question re the existance of any planning permission is with my solicitors awaiting an answer from the vendors - I'm just trying to jump ahead of the game. Many thanks.

Robin9

Your local council website and search Planning Applications - you should be able to narrow the search by Street and year

Hoploz

How do you know the planning for the annexe had lapsed?

Odd that you can't find any planning applications. Was it done under permitted development? It may comply with those rules, so it's worth checking.

Really it's up to your seller to be answering the questions as it is their problem if they've missed applying when they needed to. If you want to know the answers sooner, consider asking the estate agent to find out for you by a simple phone call to the seller. Better still, ask for a viewing with the seller present, so you can ask anything face to face without the Chinese whispers. Then make sure their answers are confirmed in the solicitors paperwork.

davidmcn

If you can't find it on the council's planning portal then either it's not there or you're searching for the wrong thing. You don't want to make a personal enquiry of the council if an indemnity policy is still a possibility.

TamsinC

Robin9 wrote: »

Your local council website and search Planning Applications - you should be able to narrow the search by Street and year

Yep - did that - nothing for that property since 2004 (the date the archive goes back to)

Hoploz wrote: »

How do you know the planning for the annexe had lapsed?

Odd that you can't find any planning applications. Was it done under permitted development? It may comply with those rules, so it's worth checking.

Really it's up to your seller to be answering the questions as it is their problem if they've missed applying when they needed to. If you want to know the answers sooner, consider asking the estate agent to find out for you by a simple phone call to the seller. Better still, ask for a viewing with the seller present, so you can ask anything face to face without the Chinese whispers. Then make sure their answers are confirmed in the solicitors paperwork.

It said there was lapsed planning in the details from when the sellers bought the house (hoopla is great for finding old listings). Sellers are being difficult to pin down to a date for seeing them (extenuating circumstances though), EA is 'reasonable' but rarely comes back to me and I have to ask 3 or 4 times and I'm fed up with asking him stuff, hence the reason I got the solicitors to ask instead.

davidmcn wrote: »

If you can't find it on the council's planning portal then either it's not there or you're searching for the wrong thing. You don't want to make a personal enquiry of the council if an indemnity policy is still a possibility.

Yes, I thought that and so deliberately haven't approached the council. Do you think an indemnity policy will be enough? The conversation is between 2 and 4 years old.

teneighty

And don't forget you'll need a copy of the Building Regulations Approval Notice and possibly Completion Certificate for the conversion. Just as important as the Planning Permission if not more so.

TamsinC

teneighty wrote: »

And don't forget you'll need a copy of the Building Regulations Approval Notice and possibly Completion Certificate for the conversion. Just as important as the Planning Permission if not more so.

Thanks - I will make sure those are asked about too

jennhg88

You could try phoning the council planning department direct for advice.
Although sometimes they're only interested if you have a reference number.

TamsinC

jennhg88 wrote: »

You could try phoning the council planning department direct for advice.
Although sometimes they're only interested if you have a reference number.

If I do that though - then we wont be able to get indemnity insurance - and I need one or the other