Building control before planning permission

JamesBeech

We have an integrated garage which was part converted by the previous owner 6 years ago, and this work received building control sign off by the council.

The conversion left the garage door in place with a 1 metre space between it and the converted space, therefore we investigated what was required to replace the door with brickwork and a window. The feedback from the council was that planning permission was required as the house was built with a condition that the garage must be retained for the use of parking a vehicle. The issue here is that building control signed off the conversion when the previous owner carried out the work, without any planning permission being suggested (I assume they would have found the condition mentioned).

Based on the fact that the garage is no longer a garage (as of 6yrs ago), does that mean I can go ahead and brick up the garage door and insert a window, as technically the garage conversion was complete and signed off by council building control?

Lastly, I read that we'd need to find an additional parking space now that a parking space has been lost. Our driveway can only hold 2 cars, so I'm not sure how we'd find a 3rd space... As above, is that relevant as the conversion has taken place?

Thanks for your help.

anselld

The fact that building control signed something off has absolutely no relevance to planning issues, they are entirely separate.  A breach off planning must exist for 10 years to become immune to enforcement so it would probably be best to keep your head down and leave things as they are.

JamesBeech

Thanks for the reply. I assumed as it was building control they would have done checks with the planning department to see whether the work required planning, after all they're part of the same council.

Regarding 10 years, would they enforce it even though the previous owner did the work? I'd hope they wouldn't require for the work to be undone (restore the garage), as I'd be financially penalised for something I had no involvement with.

davidmcn

JamesBeech said:

Regarding 10 years, would they enforce it even though the previous owner did the work? I'd hope they wouldn't require for the work to be undone (restore the garage), as I'd be financially penalised for something I had no involvement with.

The change of ownership is of no relevance. I'm not sure whether the fact it had building regulations approval counts as being an "open" enough change to be now out of time for challenge, though in practice councils really don't have enough resources to go around enforcing things unless there's a good reason.

Doozergirl

JamesBeech said:

Thanks for the reply. I assumed as it was building control they would have done checks with the planning department to see whether the work required planning, after all they're part of the same council.

Regarding 10 years, would they enforce it even though the previous owner did the work? I'd hope they wouldn't require for the work to be undone (restore the garage), as I'd be financially penalised for something I had no involvement with.

They're totally separate departments.  They don't speak.  A lot of building work (in fact, most of it) falls under permitted development so it would be time consuming and pointless to check everything. 

It's 4 years for work to become lawful, not 10. 

You could apply for a certificate of lawful development using the building control sign off as evidence that the change of use has been ongoing for more than 4 years, then apply for the permission to change to a window. On the face of it, your evidence f ongoing use is excellent and the subsequent window is unlikely to be turned down.  

https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/uploads/1app/guidance/guidance_note-lawful_development_certificates.pdf

JamesBeech

Great, thanks for the extra information.

The council have emailed saying they will contact me by Friday advising me of the next steps, so hopefully I'll know more then.

JamesBeech

I have been told I need to make an application for planning permission.

I was advised that the time limit is 10 years in this case as it relates to a condition, which in this case was that the garage should be used as a garage. It doesn't sound too likely I will get permission as I've been told that I'd need to find an additional car parking space, as the garage currently counts as a space (despite it being part converted 6 years ago and signed off by building control).