Enforcement Notice

k1irk1978

I am hoping someone can give me some advice or at least point me in the right direction. I recieved a section 330 notice from the council on Monday and after several emails and phone calls with them to try and clarify what it relates to, I ascetained that they are planning to issue an enforcement notice as the construction of the dormer on our house is in breach of planning conditions namely in the the cladding needs to be changed from UPVC to grey. This has come as a bit of a shock as we only took ownership of the property on 15th August and as far as we were aware and from what we were told by the solicitor all the correct planning permission and building regulations had been recieved and complied with prior to completion. I am just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction as to whose liability this would be as if we had been made aware of this condition we would have insured that it was rectified by the previous owner prior to the sale. Thanks in advance for any advice

user1977

What exactly were you told about the planning permission at the time? The solicitors wouldn't personally check that what was built corresponded with what was consented - that's for you and/or your surveyor to check out.

When was the earliest council correspondence about the alleged breach? If the vendors had received notice before exchange (or possibly completion) they ought to have told you.

ProDave

You probably got the building regulations certificate. That just means what is built complies with building regulations.  It could be built with the wrong material and still comply.

You don't usually get any "completion" paperwork from planning.

So it sounds like it was built with the wrong cladding either through ignorance or the previous owner was hoping nobody would notice.

If it is just the colour that is wrong, painting it might be all that is needed, you will need more from the council exactly what they are expecting.

k1irk1978

All we were told prior to completion was that retrospective planning permission had been sought and granted for the dormer and we were supplied a completion certificate via our solicitor. It does mention on the 'Certificate Of Lawfulness', that we first got sight of when it was included in a file of documents supplied by the solicitor post purchase, about an alteration to the cladding. The 'Certificate Of Lawfulness' is addressed to the vendor's solicitor so this was sent directly from them to my solicitor. The first I was aware of the breach was today when I managed to speak to the enforcement officer regarding the section 330 notice.

Doozergirl

What is in the certificate of lawfulness?  Can you post details. 

k1irk1978

Doozergirl said:

What is in the certificate of lawfulness?  Can you post details. 

It simply states:

'Rear dormer window (retrospective) with alteration to cladding'

When I read it, I actually thought that meant that's what had been approved and not that it was a condition of the approval, it seems a quite misleading to me

ProDave

k1irk1978 said:

Doozergirl said:

What is in the certificate of lawfulness?  Can you post details. 

It simply states:

'Rear dormer window (retrospective) with alteration to cladding'

When I read it, I actually thought that meant that's what had been approved and not that it was a condition of the approval, it seems a quite misleading to me

Basically what that means, is the dormer was built without planning permission.  That has been rectified by the issue of the Certificate of Lawful Development but with the variation that the cladding material needs to be changed.

Had you noticed this fact before exchange you probably could have forced or at least suggested the vendor pays the cost of changing the cladding.   But as you accepted it without challenge and completed, I think the cost of making the changes is now up to you to pay.

It would be worth asking if it really has to be actually changed, or would just painting it the required colour be enough?

Flugelhorn

ProDave said:

k1irk1978 said:

Doozergirl said:

What is in the certificate of lawfulness?  Can you post details. 

It simply states:

'Rear dormer window (retrospective) with alteration to cladding'

When I read it, I actually thought that meant that's what had been approved and not that it was a condition of the approval, it seems a quite misleading to me

Basically what that means, is the dormer was built without planning permission.  That has been rectified by the issue of the Certificate of Lawful Development but with the variation that the cladding material needs to be changed.

Had you noticed this fact before exchange you probably could have forced or at least suggested the vendor pays the cost of changing the cladding.   But as you accepted it without challenge and completed, I think the cost of making the changes is now up to you to pay.

It would be worth asking if it really has to be actually changed, or would just painting it the required colour be enough?

Sounds like it maybe the uPVC that they don't like - if they accept it, it may be possible to paint it grey. Where we live there were covenants about various colours being used and some people changed wooden windows, cladding etc to uPVC and did an amazingly good colour match 

k1irk1978

Flugelhorn said:

ProDave said:

k1irk1978 said:

Doozergirl said:

What is in the certificate of lawfulness?  Can you post details. 

It simply states:

'Rear dormer window (retrospective) with alteration to cladding'

When I read it, I actually thought that meant that's what had been approved and not that it was a condition of the approval, it seems a quite misleading to me

Basically what that means, is the dormer was built without planning permission.  That has been rectified by the issue of the Certificate of Lawful Development but with the variation that the cladding material needs to be changed.

Had you noticed this fact before exchange you probably could have forced or at least suggested the vendor pays the cost of changing the cladding.   But as you accepted it without challenge and completed, I think the cost of making the changes is now up to you to pay.

It would be worth asking if it really has to be actually changed, or would just painting it the required colour be enough?

Sounds like it maybe the uPVC that they don't like - if they accept it, it may be possible to paint it grey. Where we live there were covenants about various colours being used and some people changed wooden windows, cladding etc to uPVC and did an amazingly good colour match 

They also got the building certificate retrospectivly but as I have found out today this is totally separate to getting planning permission. My solicitor saw the certificate of lawfulness with the condition re. the cladding attached, should she not have brought this to our attention prior to completion of the purchase? I have asked the question as to whether it would be possible to simply paint over the white UPVC and I am awaiting a response. I wouldn't mind but all the other windows and the porch are white UPVC as is next door's dormer. I'm not sure where we'd stand if we challenged it.

Section62

k1irk1978 said:

I have asked the question as to whether it would be possible to simply paint over the white UPVC and I am awaiting a response. I wouldn't mind but all the other windows and the porch are white UPVC as is next door's dormer. I'm not sure where we'd stand if we challenged it.

You have to wait for the enforcement notice to be issued before you can appeal it. You then have until the date it is due to take effect to appeal.

TBH I would concentrate my efforts in bringing the property into compliance ASAP.  Once an enforcement notice has been served it is usually on the property for ever - LPA's can withdraw them, but they don't usually do that.

Having an enforcement notice - even if you have complied with it - can cause complications when you come to sell the property.

Tactically it is usually better to be in compliance first, then make an application for consent for what you want, followed by an appeal if consent is refused.

k1irk1978

Thank you for all the advice, I have had a more time to consider the situation and I have also had some legal advice from the helpline provided by my home insurance who have advised that in the first instance I should contact my solicitor. She is on annual leave until Monday so I am expecting a call back then. In the meantime, I was hoping that I may be able to get some further advice on the following:

- I have checked through the searches that the solicitor conducted and supplied to me, when these searches were done, the retrospective planning application for the dormer was still in process with a decision pending. I am assuming that the condition relating to the cladding would now show up if a search were to be conducted. Should my solicitor have done a further search to confirm the status of the application prior to exchange?

- Whilst I did have sight of the building regs completion certificate prior to purchase and in my ignorance, assumed that this meant that the planning was also approved for the dormer, I did not have sight of the Certificate Of Lawfulness (which I now understand is equally as important as the building regs cert) until after completion when it was included in the paperwork sent by my solictior after we'd moved into the property. The Certificate Of Lawfulness does mention the condition relating to the cladding, should the solicitor have brought this to my attention or indeed taken this up with the vendor's solicitor prior to exchange as she was clearly aware of it as she was in possession of the document?

I appreciate that this may be as simple an issue to rectify as painting the UPVC grey, however, as the property in a 4 storey terrace house, even this will incur considerable expense as it will require a lot of scaffolding.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is an area I have very little experience in.