UPDATE Pre Fab Garage.. Planning Permission ?

[Spiderman]

Originally Posted by Bellerophon

BTW, is a lady barrister without her briefs a solicitor?

Dunno. But if you can arrange for me to meet her then i'll find out for ya.

Unless she's not a solicitor but just soliciting

[Richie]

Just got back in,
thank you for all your replys.

the seller is now applying for Retrospective PP.

in the mean time, we just wait...

Originally Posted by Richie1743

Just got back in,
thank you for all your replys.

the seller is now applying for Retrospective PP.

in the mean time, we just wait...

That will prolly have cost more than a defective title thingy. Or a retention.

You won't be in by Christmas then...

Richie where you moving to? Does this mean you're leaving the army?

[Richie]

Originally Posted by robchester

Richie where you moving to? Does this mean you're leaving the army?

No, not leaving the army. as I would be a fool to leave such an easy job.
Moving up round your way. Between Durham and the coast.

[Richie]

Originally Posted by Ed

That will prolly have cost more than a defective title thingy. Or a retention.

You won't be in by Christmas then...

Barr Humbug...
She ( the seller) has been sent a form to fill out from the council, so its a waiting game now until the man/lady from said council goes to look at the garage and decides....
wouldn't mind but we put our offer on the house in August, 17 weeks ago....!

and BTW yes I do need the garage, as an escape from her indoors..

there are two issues
1) Planning Permission
2) Building Regulation Approval (Building Control)

- They are not the same thing...

The first issue is planning permission, which it seems you have quite a few answers on so I shan't say owt on that - don't know details anyway!).

The building regulation issue is simpler (for me at least):

From the photo's it looks like it is constructed of non combustible materials and appears to be less the 30m2 in floor area. Accordingly it would be exempt from the Building Regulations even if built close to the boundary - as long as it is detached from the house. If it is more than 30m2 floor area it would need approval. If it is within 1m of the boundary and built of combustible material it would need approval.

In any event the Council will find it very difficult to take enforcement action if you can show it has been built more than 12 months ago (injunction is a very very unlikely - though possible - option if the Council thought the building presented a significant risk to health and safety) -but it looks exempt anyway.

From the sellers point of view they can apply for retrospective planning permission which, perhaps, if the approval is straight forward might prove cheaper to them than discounting the price of the house (possibly) - I'm not that good on the planning stuff. They can also apply for a regularisation certificate for building regulation approval (provided it wasn't built prior to Novemebr 1985!) - although as noted above it would appear it didn't need this approval anyway.

Solicitors always ask (though often very late in the day!!) for copies of approval notices and completion certificates. If you proceed with the purchase this may well happen when you come to sell again so it is worth writing to the Council (Development Control - planning permission and Building Control - building regulations) to get a written response as to your legal position which you can keep with your deeds for the future. In terms of building regulations they can confirm that it didn't need approval. Include a layout plan with dimensions of the building and its relationship with the house and other buildings with your letter. Most will accept email for this (and may reply by email). It may be worth doing this anyway as a buyer to put your mind at rest.

Not so familiar with the planning process I'm afraid.

Oh and by the way - its as permanent as any building unless planning permission is given which limits the term.

On another note even if it is exempt from building regulations - if you put an electrical supply into it fed from the main house, the electrical work will need building regulation approval (though the building itself might not) unless you use an electrician approved through governement approved Self Certification Scheme

Sorry missed that bit earlier

Originally Posted by Triumphumphumph

Solicitors always ask (though often very late in the day!!) for copies of approval notices and completion certificates.

That's because, in my case, if nobody tells me that there has been any work at the property, the only way I find out is from the local search. Sellers should state whether there has been any work done in their Property Information Form - but often don't.

Originally Posted by Ed

That's because, in my case, if nobody tells me that there has been any work at the property, the only way I find out is from the local search. Sellers should state whether there has been any work done in their Property Information Form - but often don't.

Yes, I can appreciate that being a problem Ed ] . Very often the Council is blamed when unable to issue copies of documents with just a couple of hours notice before contract completion - yes it does happen a lot and very difficult when the building work didn't even get approval, when people expect us to drop everything and rush round to their home and do a full survey with our X-Ray kit (no we haven't really got an X-Ray kit) ain't gonna happen - worse when the conveyancer is rude and abrupt when making the request - not the best way to get a result.

Sorry seem to have veered from the thread...