What's allowed on your roof?!

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi all.

A friend has a 'shed' on his flat's roof - 5 storeys up. It's been there for at least a decade and is multi-purpose, allowing fire egress, storage, and also used to contain cold water storage tanks for a few of the flats below, including his. The building's roof is flat and is somewhere he can sit out on sunny days, and he'd keep chairs and stuff in this shed. He's been patching it up for as many years as I can recall - it would leak water in to his flat on pretty much an annual basis - and he has finally had it fully revamped - and made more usable at the same time. 

The original was clad in shiplap which was grey and innocuous - it looked like a 'shed' and the roof was felt, again tatty. The refurb has bright new cladding in fresh timber, and the flat roof has been slightly extended to provide an overhang all around (to protect the timber walls) and been GRP'ed - it's still, very closely, the original size.

Someone has complained to the council and they've contacted him about a possible breach in planning...

I've asked him to go through all his old photos, anything which shows the 'shed' as it was along with indications of it's original age. He has pics of the boiler which was installed there around 5 years ago, photos of outside corners which show his attempts at patching up the failing cladding etc., so hopefully enough to demonstrate that (a) a construction has been there for many years, and (b) that it was of a size very close to the refurbed one (the 'new' build is a couple of feet longer than the original, and the new roof - similar height - now extends around a foot over each wall and a bit more along the front.)

He has made it more usable as a 'summer house' - he would sit in the old room on nice sunny days, basking in the bleak glow from a side window, and part of his refurb was to fit a larger window and also bifold doors. It is still primarily what it always has been - a fire escape, cold water storage for all the flats (now redundant since all have gone 'combi'), and storage shed, but is clearly also now a nice room he can sit in up there; internal space has been freed up as the cold water storage tanks were removed. 

What do you reckon the Planning dept will make of it? If he can demonstrate pretty conclusively that the actual size has not altered (much...) and that a timber 'room' has been there for a decade or more, how much relevance will the fact that he's made it more pleasant, comfy & usable - bifolds, etc - be? It is separate from the flat and is accessed only via steep narrow steps with restricted headroom and a trapdoor.

Thanks. 

Slithery

Planning aside, the roof space probably isn't demised to his lease. If so then the freeholder could make him remove it at any time.

bolwin1

Google earth images will probably have aerial photos going back 20 years or more, so will help show how long it has been in place. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Thanks Slithery. There has been a shed there for as long as he has been in the flat - in excess of 10 years. 'All' he's done is 'update' it. I dare say the LL might have an opinion, but this issue is purely a 'planning' one with the council. 

Bolwin - cracking idea! Thanks :-)

theoretica

Is it a 'new' shed - or just extremely extensive repairs involving 4 new walls and a new roof?

davidmcn

I suspect it's the use which is more problematic than the structure - nothing inherently wrong with having a "plant room" on a roof and somebody visiting once in a blue moon for maintenance purposes, but a different kettle of fish if there's somebody up there every day with a great view of the neighbours.

Jeepers_Creepers

Yay! Nice one Bolwin - Google shows the original shed!

Now, any idea how he can get an earlier Google image? For 'planning' what sort of duration is required - something like within 4 years before action can be taken? 

Jeepers_Creepers

Yes, it's as you say Theoretica :-) 

As part of the work, he first put up screening at each end of the roof - 'overlooking' is far less of an issue than it's ever been. View from window is skyline only. Bifolds look out on to 'his' roof only. 

moneysavinghero

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Yay! Nice one Bolwin - Google shows the original shed!

Now, any idea how he can get an earlier Google image? For 'planning' what sort of duration is required - something like within 4 years before action can be taken? 

On Google street view, if there is an earlier image you can select it:

When you're in Street View mode in Google Maps, if a clock icon is displayed under the address at the top-left of the map then historical street view imagery is available there. Click down arrow under the clock to expand the dates when imagery is available. You can click the different dates on the timeline to preview the imagery.

bolwin1

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Yay! Nice one Bolwin - Google shows the original shed!

Now, any idea how he can get an earlier Google image? For 'planning' what sort of duration is required - something like within 4 years before action can be taken? 

If you download the google earth app, you can view historical aerial imagery. I can see 11 different images for my house roughly 2 years apart from 1999, 2004, 2007, 2009 & then every 2 years until 2019. This works fine on a PC, not sure about a phone. 

Jeepers_Creepers

Thanks both - I'll try that :-)

(Friend is very grateful. Of course, I'm taking the credit...)