Planning permission - Carport to Garage

saver2000

Hi,
I have a property with a brick built carport (all enclosed apart from the entrance and integrated within the property). I would like to put a garage door on and convert it into a garage. I would still use the space to store my car, but it would enable me to put shelfs up to store tools for the car and also provide additional security.
In the planning permission for when the property was built, there is the following clause:
"No doors, gates or other means of enclosure shall be created within the proposed carports which shall be permanently maintained as carports for the purpose of vehicle parking."
I assume this is to stop people converting the space into an extra room and then creating parking issues. I only have 1 car though and would still be using the space. The neighbour opposite me actually has several minibuses/vans that he parks on the road making it impossible to park outside my property even if I wanted to.
Do you think the council would allow me to ever put a door on? I guess they would argue that if I sell the property in the future someone might start using the "garage" as storage or convert it to a room without permission (which happens a lot in my town)

TELLIT01

When was the property built?  It's not uncommon to have covenants on properties but enforcing them on older properties is unlikely.

saver2000

Hi, Property is a new build built last year

Jeepers_Creepers

If new, there will likely be some contemporary logic behind that clause. And I suspect it's that a carport allows your car to swing straight into that space without you first having to stop on the road to open the garage doors, causing a potential nuisance or risk.

Which makes the fact that a neighb is seemingly able to get away with parking numerous 'buses on the road a bit daft.

I think you can be pretty certain it isn't to prevent folk from turning it into a room, 'cos there are permissions and requirements for every garage before that can be done.

There was another thread on here with a similar story to do with a carport. I think the poster was the owner of a coach-house, so was also the freeholder of the carports underneath her home. She had one, and a couple of others were leased to neighbours for their use. One neighb added doors to 'theirs', and the FH was asking how they could force them to remove them - and why there were restrictions against doors in the first place. The above reason was the best guess given on here. But it is just a guess.

I doubt they'll give permission, and I very much doubt you'd 'get away' with doing it. But there's no harm in asking.

bpj

Jeepers_Creepers said:

I think you can be pretty certain it isn't to prevent folk from turning it into a room, 'cos there are permissions and requirements for every garage before that can be done.

I think an enclosed garage is much more likely to be used as a workshop / general storage area than a carport, so sensible planners concerned about street parking might make that condition. You could be right that in practice they don't make the distinction though.