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Log cabins?
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Someone I know through a mutual friend actually built one in his huge back garden. And it escaped the planning permission rules and regs too :eek: .
I don't know the specific ins and outs but apparently if the building is no more than a certain height above ground level then it doesn't need PP. He got round this by basically digging a huge crater in his garden and built it in the hole. The roof level only came to a few feet above the surrounding ground level.
PP boys made a right song and dance about it when they found out but after consulting their rules and regs book realised that he hadn't actually broken any rules. The guy who built it lives in it himself now (it's well smart and like something off Grand Designs) and rents out his main house.
Rob0 -
Someone I know through a mutual friend actually built one in his huge back garden. And it escaped the planning permission rules and regs too :eek: .
I don't know the specific ins and outs but apparently if the building is no more than a certain height above ground level then it doesn't need PP. He got round this by basically digging a huge crater in his garden and built it in the hole. The roof level only came to a few feet above the surrounding ground level.
PP boys made a right song and dance about it when they found out but after consulting their rules and regs book realised that he hadn't actually broken any rules. The guy who built it lives in it himself now (it's well smart and like something off Grand Designs) and rents out his main house.
Rob
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:0 -
harryhound wrote: »It is near Leatherhead I believe? It went all the way to a senior court?
I think the judge managed to convince himself that a human habitation has to have its OWN roof and as it was built inside a barn, it did not have its OWN roof open to the sky. Where Google etc. etc. etc. can spot what is going on??????????
(Let us know if you have better information?)
Good morning: Further info here on the 'castle' in question...enter the postcode into Google Earth for location.
HTH
CanuckleheadAsk to see CIPHE (Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering)0 -
You could not make this up: A "Mr Fidler" sets about bending the planning system over the years in all directions.
The "castle" is not the same as the "bungalow in a barn" I was visualising, there is obviously an outbreak of lawlessness in that part of leafy Surrey.
The "trick" of encasing a property in straw bales was celebrated in The Daily Mail half a dozen years ago, but now the judges seem to have put a new twist into the system by saying that removal of the surrounding enclosure is an integral part of the illegal development process. Therefore the 4 years only starts then, not when the family start living in the gloom, as that home is not fit for human habitation before the enclosure is removed, so would not get a completion certificate..
I would be interested to know if Mr Fidler is facing a massive backlog on his business rates bill, levied on his supposedly illegal commercial development?
This might be another technique for pressurising the man into line?
Anyway, don't hold your breath. It could be a long time. When push really does come to shove, the Council may end up sending in one of those giant JCB's with a "concrete muncher" fitment on the end of its arm.
I have seen one of those, surrounded by "half" a county's police force, used against the afore mentioned "traveller community". I thought I had fallen asleep and woken up in the Third Reich.
Never mind, when a section of Honeycrock Farm has been reduced to a rubble car park, it will make very suitable alternative accommodation for the residents of Dale Farm and the pantomime can start all over again.0 -
Thanks for all the responses. The question came about as my pil keep trying to pursuade us to move near them. They own quite a bit of land around their house and are insistant that we could build a log cabin to live in without planning permission. My understanding was that you can certain circumstances do this in your garden subject to it not being over a certain height and not taking up more than 50% of the garden. However, I was sure this would not apply to a field as like someone said they would just be appearing everywhere around the courtyside. However, they do have a knack of making you feel like you're just making things up so thanks for all the advice.
Regards0 -
Each "shed" has a size limit as well as a height limit.It specifically cannot be used for overnight accommodation on more than the exception days (but which nosey neighbour is counting?). A few "new age" type people have managed to start with a "bender" and progress from there.
You could try living in a caravan for 4 years to see if you can get away with it, thus creating a huge increase in the value of your relatives' land. I would expect to have an option on the land in advance and some nice non digital photos of you sitting outside your dwelling reading the inside of a clearly identifiable newspaper.
Meanwhile The Daily Mail prints an incomplete but reasonably accurate report on the traveller camp:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=563636&in_page_id=17700 -
I've made a few preliminary calls to various councils about these when I have seen land fo sale that might suit me. TBH most councils have been very negative towards them. Building on agricultural land is not always as easy as people make out, its generally believed if you 'need' to be there to monitor stock its easier to get planning, but I know many who have hoped that and not got it.
Incidently, planning varies. In many parts of the country you'll see field shelters on skids or wheels, temporary structures for horses....allowed because they are movable, in some parts even these require planning now, and they are essentially sheds, so if you'd need planning for a non-permanant shed my guess is you'd need it for a log cabin.
Why don't you call the relevant planning dept and sound them out?0 -
There's quite a bit of conflicting advice above!! There are basically a different set of 'rules' depending on where you want to put a log cabin.
Firstly, if you want to erect one within the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling, then you may be able to do it as permitted development, subjet to compliance with a list of criteria contained in Class E of Part 1, Schedule 2 of the GPDO. Broadly, the cabin should be no higher than 4m high (3m if flat roofed); no nearer to any highway that borders any part of the curtilage of the dwelling (unless it's more than 20m away); does not cover more than 50% of the plot (including other outbuildings already erected); should not be nearer than 5m to the dwelling. Importantly, if you live in an AONB, National Park or Conservation Area then you will fall foul of the requirement for the structure to be less than 10 cu m.
However, all this advice only relates to a structure that is 'incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling' - if it's to be used as a separate dwelling, then no, you can't build one without planning permission. That's a change of use of the land to an independent residential unit (even if it's already within the curtilage of an existing house).
Secondly, if you're intending to build one on agricultural land, then you can more or less forget it - whilst there are permitted development for agricultural units larger than 5 hectares (although they relate to agricultural buildings, for agricultural uses, not residential ones!), there are no permitted development rights for new buildings on agricultural holdings of less than 5 hectares (see Part 6 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO).
The above poster mentions agricultural dwellings, but you would have to convincingly demonstrate that it is essential for you to live on the agricultural unit - it's very difficult to demonstrate, mainly to guard against abuse of the system!
So, in short, yes you may be able to build a log cabin to use as a summerhouse ro something like that in a garden, but to live in as an independent dwelling - no, not anywhere unfortunately!0 -
planning_officer wrote: »There's quite a bit of conflicting advice above!! There are basically a different set of 'rules' depending on where you want to put a log cabin.
Firstly, if you want to erect one within the residential curtilage of an existing dwelling, then you may be able to do it as permitted development, subjet to compliance with a list of criteria contained in Class E of Part 1, Schedule 2 of the GPDO. Broadly, the cabin should be no higher than 4m high (3m if flat roofed); no nearer to any highway that borders any part of the curtilage of the dwelling (unless it's more than 20m away); does not cover more than 50% of the plot (including other outbuildings already erected); should not be nearer than 5m to the dwelling. Importantly, if you live in an AONB, National Park or Conservation Area then you will fall foul of the requirement for the structure to be less than 10 cu m.
However, all this advice only relates to a structure that is 'incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling' - if it's to be used as a separate dwelling, then no, you can't build one without planning permission. That's a change of use of the land to an independent residential unit (even if it's already within the curtilage of an existing house).
Secondly, if you're intending to build one on agricultural land, then you can more or less forget it - whilst there are permitted development for agricultural units larger than 5 hectares (although they relate to agricultural buildings, for agricultural uses, not residential ones!), there are no permitted development rights for new buildings on agricultural holdings of less than 5 hectares (see Part 6 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO).
The above poster mentions agricultural dwellings, but you would have to convincingly demonstrate that it is essential for you to live on the agricultural unit - it's very difficult to demonstrate, mainly to guard against abuse of the system!
So, in short, yes you may be able to build a log cabin to use as a summerhouse ro something like that in a garden, but to live in as an independent dwelling - no, not anywhere unfortunately!
All well and good in theory, but how are you going to prove that it's being lived in (if in a garden)? Call round every day/week to check?
While it may be the "law", it's got more holes in it than a collinder.
Rob0 -
From experience it's usually pretty obvious - LPAs can always serve Planning Contravention Notices which the owner has to respond in writing, for example stating exactly what the building is being used for. To not respond or to provide false information is a criminal offence and one that most people don't want to risk. The most obvious way is to check the interior and if it contains full living accommodation, e.g. kitchen, living area, bedroom, WC, then that's pretty much a dwelling and there's a lot of appeal cases where if a building is capable of being lived in independently, Inspector's have ruled that's an independent dwelling0
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