Solar Panels without planning permission

ChirpyChicken

flaneurs_lobster said:

QrizB said:

silverchoice said:

Buying a house with solar panels in a conservation area without planning permission.

You could complain to the local authority that the panels were installed without permission, and let the planning enforcement team deal with it ...

Round my way (yes it's a conservation area) the solar panel fitters wouldn't make it out of their van before the complaints from the neighbors began hitting the planning department's in-box. 

I know the feeling 

Slinky

Are they visible from the front? If not, would they be allowed?

ormonde

We live in a conservation area and did not require planning permission, it is permitted development but just to cover ourselves in case any of the neighbours kicked off we applied for a Certificate of lawful use or development which the council granted. The panels will be on the front of our property and we are just organising a date for their installation at the moment.

Section62

ormonde said:

We live in a conservation area and did not require planning permission, it is permitted development but just to cover ourselves in case any of the neighbours kicked off we applied for a Certificate of lawful use or development which the council granted. The panels will be on the front of our property and we are just organising a date for their installation at the moment.

Not all conservation areas are the same.  The permitted development rights remaining/removed will depend on the area and would be decided by the planning authority when the area was established or subsequently modified.

It is relatively unusal for solar panels to be permitted development in a conservation area - they are generally more intrusive than most other modifications people want to make, so one of the things planning authorities want more control over.

silverchoice

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81842432#Comment_81842432

On the property information form the sellers indicated that the property isn’t in a conservation area but I have checked the local authority web site and confirmed that it is.

eddddy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864442#Comment_81864442

So maybe that would be the issue to address first. Ask the sellers why they believe that their property isn't in a conservation area, when the local authority website suggests it is.

If it were me, I would ask the seller informally first via the estate agent - to get a quick informal answer. But it would be something that would probably need to be followed up via solicitors in due course.

silvercar

Any neighbours have solar panels?

With these conservation areas, I would have though putting up solar panels would either be something that would be stopped in its tracks or allowed to remain, I can’t see why any objectors, be they the council or neighbours would allow them to remain for years and then object.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864573#Comment_81864573

It depends how visible they are to the council and anyone else who might object. If they were hidden around the back of the house and/or the neighbours are friendly then they wouldn't necessarily have come to the council's notice. Yet.

Later on, different neighbours (not so friendly), might notice them and feel it is their civic duty to let the council know, or else friendly neighbours want some themselves and in all innocence mention to the council that the house next door has already got them. There are also other ways the council could find out some considerable time later.

That nothing has been done so far doesn't mean nothing will ever happen. Not until the applicable time limit for enforcement has passed.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864442#Comment_81864442

Is it a legally designated conservation area with an Article 4 Direction in place?

Some councils have their own locally defined areas which are given names similar to 'conservation area' but aren't true conservation areas. They can define such areas as part of their local plan with the intention they offer guidance as to what is and isn't likely to be acceptable in development terms, but stop short of legally designating them. Strictly they shouldn't really be called conservation areas (to avoid confusion with the real thing), but the terminology used can still be confusing for laypeople.

GDB2222

Round here, things are pretty strictly controlled, but you can still get things through at the back of the house that would not be allowed at the front. So, are these panels visible from the road?