Bought house. Council asking for fence to be taken down

jojothefirst

Hi all. 

Would appriciate any thoughts on what to do with our situation.

We bought a house at the end of last year which was totally renovated. It is a end terrace with a very small garden at the rear and a bigger garden to the side of the house which extends around 2m to the front of the house.

As part of the renovation a 6ft fence was built on the side garden. 

The council have had a complaint and said this fence should have had planning permission so want it taken down to below 1m. This would mean no privacy or security for our 3 kids and 2 dogs that use the garden. 

I have contacted my solicitor and they said it was not declared that work had been carried out to build the fence so obviously could not investigate it further. 

Where do i stand now?

Its our problem as we own the house but we did not create the problem. 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Joel

jojothefirst

This is part of the email i had today. The council came to the property to discuss the mater on 20th of may......... 

Fence

 

Unauthorised development is considered against several factors such as (but not limited to) its design, appearance and whether it would otherwise accord with adopted planning policy as set out in the Local Development Plan (2010).  The property fronts [DELETED BY FORUM TEAM], a typical late Victorian terrace whereby neighbouring properties which benefit from frontages have retained the original design of low masonry garden walls and railings.

 

The design, scale and choice of materials for the fence along the front and side boundaries present development that is not in keeping with the characteristics of the area and is visually incongruous in its appearance.  The development does not therefore accord with adopted policy.

 

Furthermore, I must advise that informal feedback from the Council’s Highway Authority has raised concerns as to fence’s impact on visibility at the junction splay between  [DELETED BY FORUM TEAM].

 

For the above reasons, the submission of a retrospective planning application to retain the development in its current form is not encouraged on the basis that favourable recommendation is unlikely to be forthcoming.  You may still wish to submit a retention application, contrary to advice and appeal any decision of refusal.

 

That being said, you may wish to consider submitting an application for a revised scheme of enclosure along the front and side boundaries, which seeks to overcome the planning concerns outlined above.  You may wish to contact the Highway Authority directly for further guidance on what enclosure may be acceptable from a highway visibility standpoint, prior to submitting any revised scheme.

 

The fee for a householder planning application is £230, which must be supported with the following plans (drawn to scale):

·         Site location plan (1:1250 with the application site edged in red)

·         Block plan (1:100)

·         All elevations (1:50)

 

However, I must point out that the fence remains unauthorised and for the reasons outlined above, the Planning Department consider that formal enforcement action is necessary on this occasion.  I therefore respectfully request that the fence is removed in the first instance and within 28 days of the date of this correspondence.  Further, I feel it prudent to advise that should no meaningful action be taken to resolve the matter, the Planning Department will have no other option but to issue Enforcement Notice requiring the removal of the fence.

 

Ksw3

I'm not sure there is anything you can do that will get you the outcome you want of having a 2m high fence around the side of the property. I think the council have been quite clear. 

In theory I suppose your sellers may have indicated that no works that required planning permission took place or something to that effect but even if you explored that avenue, your fence height would still need to be reduced. 

Section62

jojothefirst said:

Hi all. 

Would appriciate any thoughts on what to do with our situation.

We bought a house at the end of last year which was totally renovated. It is a end terrace with a very small garden at the rear and a bigger garden to the side of the house which extends around 2m to the front of the house.

As part of the renovation a 6ft fence was built on the side garden. 

The council have had a complaint and said this fence should have had planning permission so want it taken down to below 1m. This would mean no privacy or security for our 3 kids and 2 dogs that use the garden. 

I have contacted my solicitor and they said it was not declared that work had been carried out to build the fence so obviously could not investigate it further. 

Where do i stand now?

Its our problem as we own the house but we did not create the problem. 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Joel

Get the fence taken down PDQ before you get an enforcement notice on the property.

Then have a think about whether it is worth putting up a 1m fence instead.  If it doesn't give you any privacy then there may not be much point in spending money on it.

If I'm right about the location, and on the basis of the council's letter, I think there is virtually zero chance of you getting permission either from the council or on appeal.

daveyjp

You have inherited a problem, which you now need to sort.

Two options.

Find a good planning consultant and submit an application.

As Enforcement can take months or years. Plant a fast growing hedge, play the delay game, when the hedge is 2 metres high replace the fence with 1m railings, keep the hedge.

Bendy_House

Hi Jojo.

Ok, I am a layman here, so will not be providing 'legal advice'. (On that point, if you DO have Legal Protection included on your house insurance - as you should - then call them up for guidance.)

I do not know if this fence is a fait accompli - ie, the previous owner/vendor erected it long enough ago for the council to not be able to take enforcement action. This is usually 4 years, but may be different in your case if 'highways' are also involved. So, when was this fence put up? And why didn't the person complain before now? (You'll likely never know...)

The other consideration is that you have 'time' to work out a solution, as they have given you 28 days! The council will be reluctant to actually 'enforce' this, but will likely do so at some point. When they do - when you know the game is up - then you'd better run a chainsaw along it at 1m height.

The biggest - quite possibly perfectly reasonable - issue with this fence is the 'visibility splay' part. So, a possible part-resolution would be for you to reduce the fence height at that junction-visibility point, and let the council know you have done so. If your dawgs can jump more than 1m, then you need to train them better to not do so. Or keep them leashed. Your dogs are not more important than road safety. 

The other issue is 'privacy' for your family. That works both ways, so if there's an obvious neighbouring candidate for this complaint that is based on 'view' or 'privacy', then perhaps it's time to stand near your 2 metre neighbouring fence and look over it into the distance? Oops, are you less than 2+ metres tall? Then get a step. Have your family lined up alongside you, and point out all the birdlife and plane 'smoke' trails in the distance, and discuss them - at ample volume - at great length. Don't forget to call out a big friendly "HELLO!" to any neighbour who subsequently appears.

Bottom line - it looks as tho' you've been stitched up by your vendor by them not following planning guidelines, and this is something you are now responsible for. BUT, if it really isn't reasonable, then there are things you can do - but not including the 'visibility splay' part.

Trees are not fences. Just sayin'...

deannagone

Could you section off the smaller part of the garden, let the dogs out into that area where presumably you can have whatever fencing you want to do what dogs do.., and take the dogs for more walks?

I know its not what you expected when you purchased the house but there probably isn't a lot you can do.  Maybe you could negotiate with the council to see if there is any leeway as to maximum height of the fence - they do seem to suggest that this may be possible in their letter?  Maybe 2m is too high (which is not uncommon) but a 6 or 5 ft height would be looked on less stringently?  

jojothefirst

Thanks for the replies guys. 



Does the previous own take no responsibility at all for the situation and i have to deal with both financial and the hassle of it?
 
My solicitor said the following "I cannot see that the seller disclosed the erection of the fence when asked what works had been carried out at the property and neither did they disclose this fence in the TA6 Property Information form." 

 

diystarter7

Deleted as I Googled the answer.

Bendy_House

I suspect not.

If the vendor had planted a 10m flag pole that was subsequently challenged by the council, then almost certainly it would simply have to come down.

There IS a limit on planning enforcement - usually 4 years - but there are seemingly other issues here, such as road safety.

I suspect there is an acceptable - reasonable - fair - compromise on parts of this fence?

sevenhills

jojothefirst said

This would mean no privacy or security for our 3 kids and 2 dogs that use the garden. 

Plant a hedge and grow it to 6ft?
You should be able to buy young plants that are already 2/3 foot.