Researching Historic Repairs

Countrysider

Up until the mid-2000's my house was attached to a light industrial unit. The industrial unit fell into disrepair and was destroyed by fire in 2003. The remains of the industrial building were demolished and a block of flats built shortly afterwards in a different location on the plot. My house therefore became detached (there is a small garden against my boundary wall where the building used to be) 

There is evidence of the fire on my property (charring to brickwork) and also replaced sections of brick and new guttering which would have been needed to split the properties. Old photos show the two buildings almost like a terrace sharing the same line of bricks and guttering. 

Someone therefore did work to both repair the damage to my property following the fire and also to formally separate it from the industrial unit.

The issue is this: 

At around this time my house was listed (presumably to stop it being demolished along with the light industrial unit). I bought the property as a probate with no historical information of works other than FENSA certificates for some of the windows that were installed after the fire (and just 2 months after the listing). The fire was never mentioned to me but I found out about it from investigating the charring and discovered some old photos on Facebook. 

The council have said they are considering placing an enforcement notice on the property as historical work was done without listed buildings consent. My searches when I bought the property also showed nothing and enquires were mostly 'not known'.

The council have asked for a retrospective listed buildings consent application from me, as the current owner. I would therefore like to find out more information about the impact of the fire, the work that was done to repair the house, who did it, and if it was authorised. My assumption is that it was the developer of the apartments, but it could have also been claimed on insurance by the former owner of my house. The developer is still around but the former owner died some time ago. 

There is a planning application for the apartments on the council's planning portal but only 1 associated document, which is an email from the developer asking for permission to remove their S106 obligation. No plans or anything else useful. 

What resources can I use to investigate this further? The council I will contact later and ask for more documentation regarding the planning permission that was granted for the flats, but I wondered if the developer would also be obliged to give me any information they have. I couldn't find a FoI policy on their website. I also wondered if the fire service would have records that they could share, or the company named on the FENSA. Does this seem feasible and are there any other potential sources of investigation? 

FreeBear

Freedom of Information requests can only be used with public bodies, so you are wasting time sending one to the developers - At best, it would be ignored, at worst, you'd be told to go elsewhere. That said, a polite letter asking if they have any information might elicit some answers (just don't say FoI).

theoretica

Have the council detailed the work they want a consent application for?  They should have details, proof it happened after listing etc.  The original listing record may help too.

There may be old insurance records, either tied to your address or the one next door.  I am not sure how you would access these though.

Countrysider

theoretica said:

Have the council detailed the work they want a consent application for?  They should have details, proof it happened after listing etc.  

Yes. The windows (modern units), guttering (plastic), and roof. I know the windows were installed a few months after the listing based on the FENSA certificate and window coding. There's no proof I can find for the guttering or roof, but both appear relatively modern. 

theoretica said:

The original listing record may help too.

Nothing insightful, alas. It doesn't mention the connection to the former industrial building or any of the damage. I did wonder if there was more detailed that English Heritage possessed other than the few paragraphs of the listing. 

theoretica said:

There may be old insurance records, either tied to your address or the one next door.  I am not sure how you would access these though.

I would very much like to see these but, as you say, if they exist they may not be accessible to me. 

Saraheggs

What enquiries did your solicitor make when you purchased the property? If they saw that you had been provided with Fensa certificates for work completed post the listing date they would surely have raised it? We are in the process of buying a listed property at the moment and our solicitor has been very clear that we can't proceed without listed building consent documentation relating to any changes made to the building after it was listed...

theoretica

Countrysider said:

theoretica said:

Have the council detailed the work they want a consent application for?  They should have details, proof it happened after listing etc.  

Yes. The windows (modern units), guttering (plastic), and roof. I know the windows were installed a few months after the listing based on the FENSA certificate and window coding. There's no proof I can find for the guttering or roof, but both appear relatively modern.

Seems reasonable to ask them them for details/help - and the listing building people. How did they conclude the roof/gutters were done after listing?  They may have files that go beyond the scanty details available online.

eddddy

Countrysider said:

There is a planning application for the apartments on the council's planning portal but only 1 associated document, which is an email from the developer asking for permission to remove their S106 obligation. No plans or anything else useful. 

The council might not have got round to scanning all the historic planning documents and loading electronic versions onto the portal. But they may still have paper copies in a file. You can enquire about inspecting the file.

Countrysider

Saraheggs said:

What enquiries did your solicitor make when you purchased the property? If they saw that you had been provided with Fensa certificates for work completed post the listing date they would surely have raised it? We are in the process of buying a listed property at the moment and our solicitor has been very clear that we can't proceed without listed building consent documentation relating to any changes made to the building after it was listed...

It wasn't raised and I believe the existence of the FENSA suggested that the building wasn't listed when the windows were ordered/changed (I'm not sure at which stage that is checked), although the installation was (just) after the listing date so i don't know if the window company didn't check  or English Heritage hadn't updated the listing. The fire, listing, and replacement windows all seems to have happened within the space of 2 / 3 months. 

 theoretica said:

Seems reasonable to ask them them for details/help - and the listing building people. How did they conclude the roof/gutters were done after listing?  They may have files that go beyond the scanty details available online.

They said they received a 'report' but this seems to have been just a visual inspection. The gutters are plastic and look very new and they suspect they were added post-listing, though they don't appear to have evidence for that other than stating that they're clearly not original. They said I'd still have to apply for listed buildings consent if the age couldn't be proven.

eddddy said:

The council might not have got round to scanning all the historic planning documents and loading electronic versions onto the portal. But they may still have paper copies in a file. You can enquire about inspecting the file.

I think this is likely the best course of action. I highly suspect there will be something in the planning docs about 'making good' my property as part of the developers planning permission. That's my hope anyway.