Concerned about change of use to neighbour's property affecting value.

benawhile

The house next door is being significantly altered. Every one of the five bedrooms is being fitted with en-suite and a maximum allowed height fence is erected. I suspect the new owners are intending to change it to supported accommodation or a care home but there are no planning applications on the Council website, yet.

Can I obtain information from any authority about what might happen to the site?

comeandgo

Wouldn’t think a care home unless they have huge rooms as the ensuite bathrooms would be larger than a residential en suite. Could be rented out as individual rooms or a guest house. As a neighbour would you not get a letter from council when planning application gets submitted for change of use?

WIAWSNB

Has the work begun? Surely Building Control is required for the addition of bathrooms?

user1977

benawhile said:

Can I obtain information from any authority about what might happen to the site?

Which authority is going to know what "might" happen if there have not yet been any applications to change the use?

Mr.Generous

HMO, probably rented to SERCO on a five year deal to help empty the hotels. 

DullGreyGuy

benawhile said:

The house next door is being significantly altered. Every one of the five bedrooms is being fitted with en-suite and a maximum allowed height fence is erected. I suspect the new owners are intending to change it to supported accommodation or a care home but there are no planning applications on the Council website, yet.

Can I obtain information from any authority about what might happen to the site?

A care home would need much more changes than ensuite bathrooms being fitted. Guesthouse, multi-occupancy rental etc sound more likely.

The council won't share if anyone has asked informal questions and most the time you just hire a local expert to deal with the planning application so they dont need to ask basic questions. They will only know what's going on when the application is submitted which is then public record but you say no application has been submitted yet and your crystal ball is probably better than theirs. 

lincroft1710

You will have to wait until there is planning application for change of use.If there is a COU outside of the permitted usage of that class and no planning applied for then you can report the breach to the planning authority

HobgoblinBT

Have you asked the owner/neighbour about their plans for the property?

anselld

C3 Residential to C4 HMO is permitted development unless there is an Article 4 Direction in place.  Hence planning would not be required.

Building control yes, although they are not particularly interested in internal plumbing and non-structural layout and it does not necessarily need to involve the Council; it can be signed off by a private inspector.

An HMO License would be needed in due course but that is not something you can object to on the grounds of diminishing your value.

elsien

A care home or supported living wouldn’t necessarily need a lot of changes if you were looking at people with learning disabilities for example and no mobility issues,  rather than older people.

I managed a small care home for a few years and apart from grab rails and the fire alarm and call bells, it was very similar to any other property. The only difference was that there were sinks in the bedrooms instead of an ensuite because en suite weren’t a thing then. Same kitchen and bathrooms as in any residential property.
It also had no impact on property values because most people didn’t have a clue we were a residential home. 

benawhile

WIAWSNB said:

Has the work begun? Surely Building Control is required for the addition of bathrooms?

Yes work has begun. Presumably they have got clearance from Build Control