New neighbour applies for permission for monstrous extension - without telling us

callaway92

Surprised there's been no update here from the OP.

Kinda laughable how personally they've taken everything from the neighbours.

carltonleon

Any Update OP ??

Valfc5

this is from Citizens information
Generally, you will not need planning permission for:

Building an extension to the rear of the house which does not increase the original floor area of the house by more than 40 square metres and is not higher than the house. The extension should not reduce the open space at the back of the house to less than 25 square metres which must be reserved exclusively for the use of the occupants of your house. If your house has been extended before, the floor area of the extension you are now proposing and the floor area of any previous extension (including those for which you previously got planning permission) must not exceed 40 square metres. (There are also other height restrictions.)
Converting a garage attached to the rear or side of the house to domestic use provided it has a floor area of less than 40 square metres. Building a garage at the back or side of a house so long as it does not extend out in front of the building line of the house and does not exceed 4 metres in height (if it has a tiled/slated pitched roof) or three metres (if it has any other roof type). This building will be exempt from planning permission once the floor area of all additional structures (both new and previously added) is limited to 25 square metres. Garages or sheds to the side of the house must match the finish of the house and may not be lived in, used for commercial purposes or for keeping pigs, poultry, pigeons, ponies or horses. The new garage should not reduce the open space at the back or side of the to less than 25 square metres.
Building a front porch so long as it does not exceed 2 square metres in area and is more than 2 metres from a public road or footpath. If the porch has a tiled or slated pitched roof, it must not exceed 4 metres in height or 3 metres for any other type of roof.
Capped walls made of brick, stone or block, wooden fences but not security fences can be erected as long as they do not exceed 1.2 metres in height or two metres at the side or rear. Gates may be built provided they do not exceed 2 metres in height. Permission is always required to if you wish to widen or create new access to the public road.
A central heating system chimney, boiler house or oil storage tank (up to 3,500 litres capacity).
Car parking spaces, garden paths etc
A TV aerial on the roof so long as it is less than 6 metres higher than the roof
A satellite dish (up to 1 metre in diameter, and no higher than the top of the roof) at the back or side of the house (a dish on the front needs planning permission). Only one dish may be erected on a house.
i feel your pain

Lumen

Firstly, people hate change. Secondly, it probably won't be as bad as you think. Thirdly, if it is that bad, you can always move.

My neighbour bought a house on 2-ish acres next to a country estate maybe 20 years ago. For that time he's had a lovely view over the fields, been able to see the stars at night time, peace and quiet, idyllic.

Recently, the field was rezoned to 10 houses per acre, and there's PP for over 80 houses. And a 10m wall of a creche is to be built on the exact part of this massive site closest to his house, maybe 10m away from one wall of his house, right on the boundary. All this has the proper PP.

The point is: you can do everything right, buy a place on a big site with low density zoning outside an urban area, and still get screwed over by fate.

So lodge reasonable objections if you want, but try to relax a bit. You cannot control the world, but you can control how you react to it, and carve your own destiny through it.

7znbd9xmoiupye

Effects wrote: »

Nice work. We got as far as page six in this thread and nobody thought of that until now.

did someone say it already?

dixiefly

How did the planning process go?

Was the objection successful?

crossman47

I have lived in the same semi for over 40 years. A nice young couple moved in next door and told us they were planning an extension but it would be small enough not to require PP (I think it was - just). They also broadly outlined what they had in mind.

I'm sorry now I didn't get an expert to look at their plans. First of all, the work went on for months with lots of noise, including weekends sometimes (they had moved out for the duration). An electrician one Sunday basically told me to f*** off. Even worse, they gutted the house, including removing part of the back wall and putting up supports instead. Our house almost shook at times and now I worry that our back wall may have been destabilised in some way.

So I sympathise with the OP.

Cyrus

crossman47 wrote: »

I have lived in the same semi for over 40 years. A nice young couple moved in next door and told us they were planning an extension but it would be small enough not to require PP (I think it was - just). They also broadly outlined what they had in mind.

I'm sorry now I didn't get an expert to look at their plans. First of all, the work went on for months with lots of noise, including weekends sometimes (they had moved out for the duration). An electrician one Sunday basically told me to f*** off. Even worse, they gutted the house, including removing part of the back wall and putting up supports instead. Our house almost shook at times and now I worry that our back wall may have been destabilised in some way.

So I sympathise with the OP.

which is a hazard of living in a semi d in a suburban setting, or any other setting for that matter i guess.

but even if you got an expert to look at the plans what difference would it have made?

they still would have gone ahead.

crossman47

Cyrus wrote: »

which is a hazard of living in a semi d in a suburban setting, or any other setting for that matter i guess.

but even if you got an expert to look at the plans what difference would it have made?

they still would have gone ahead.

They are reasonable and would have listened to any justifiable worries.

Mango Joe

Shocked at the amount of posts on here basically snarking at the OP and saying "what's wrong with you? - Sure your Neighbour doesn't have to say a thing to you before building a massive structure beside your house and garden blocking all your sunlight and turning your pleasant back garden into a bleak, dark, grim and damp area" - Similar scenario for rooms that once had lovely natural sunlight throughout the day.

I presume most people would regard courtesy, decency and basic manners as being good personal attributes to have - Why wouldn't the same apply here?

In my opinion anyone with a scrap of common sense with neighbours would prefer to have civil, pleasant, friction-free dealings with them where at all possible.

It says a lot about people when they laugh at someone who is dismayed at a lack of common decency - Some people are just w@nkers themselves and simply admire the classic signs of this trait in others I suppose......

Cyrus

Mango Joe wrote: »

Shocked at the amount of posts on here basically snarking at the OP and saying "what's wrong with you? - Sure your Neighbour doesn't have to say a thing to you before building a massive structure beside your house and garden blocking all your sunlight and turning your pleasant back garden into a bleak, dark, grim and damp area" - Similar scenario for rooms that once had lovely natural sunlight throughout the day.

I presume most people would regard courtesy, decency and basic manners as being good personal attributes to have - Why wouldn't the same apply here?

In my opinion anyone with a scrap of common sense with neighbours would prefer to have civil, pleasant, friction-free dealings with them where at all possible.

It says a lot about people when they laugh at someone who is dismayed at a lack of common decency - Some people are just w@nkers themselves and simply admire the classic signs of this trait in others I suppose......

its an old thread but i dont really recall any snarking, the facts dont change, people can apply for whatever they want and people can object, planning will either be granted or it wont,

regardless of how cordial and civil someone is, if they intend to build a massive structure next to me im not going to like it, even if they are the worlds nicest people, it wont change the result for me.

so yes everyone would like to get on with their neighbours but it wont always happen, and building an extension generally isnt something a neighbouring semi d dweller will be too happy about regardless of how you go about it.

jimbobmalones

Hi there


Another alternative is to prune them heavily starting at the bottom - this is not a hard job if you take your time with it unless you are very old or disabled.

When you have pruned away the lower branches you may see that it is fairly easy to cut them down one by one but if you even prune heavily you may open up a lot of light.

You could also get quote for pruning which should be cheaper than cutting down.

If you do this over a year and get the neighbour to help you'd be surprised what you can do.



best


J
here's a quick example - the first stage is just to do the bottom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyTqoC3V0F8

swarlb wrote: »

There is no 'right to light'. I'm on the other side of the fence (excuse the pun) in so far that I have a row of very high trees on my property that block the light to my neighbours garden. Houses are stand alone, and in the country. When I say the trees are high, they are twice the height of my house. These are Lelandaii trees, and were planted long before I bought the house. We are here 20 years and in that time (from looking at old photos) they've grown out of all proportion.
Myself and neighbour have spoken about them, we both agree they need to come down, however I cannot afford to have them cut (about 25/30 trees) and he cannot afford to go halves. We approached the council, and they have no interest, saying it's our land, our trees, not their concern.
We used the 'right to light' argument, thinking they might help, and showed an article from an incident in the UK (Leylandaii are seemingly outlawed over there) but they honestly couldn't care less.
I realise this is a different situation, but the 'right to light' is not a given.

Dick Turnip

dixiefly wrote: »

How did the planning process go?

Was the objection successful?

OP hasn't been online since last November so may be a while waiting for an update unfortunately

cnocbui

Mango Joe wrote: »

Shocked at the amount of posts on here basically snarking at the OP and saying "what's wrong with you? - Sure your Neighbour doesn't have to say a thing to you before building a massive structure beside your house and garden blocking all your sunlight and turning your pleasant back garden into a bleak, dark, grim and damp area" - Similar scenario for rooms that once had lovely natural sunlight throughout the day.

I presume most people would regard courtesy, decency and basic manners as being good personal attributes to have - Why wouldn't the same apply here?

In my opinion anyone with a scrap of common sense with neighbours would prefer to have civil, pleasant, friction-free dealings with them where at all possible.

It says a lot about people when they laugh at someone who is dismayed at a lack of common decency - Some people are just w@nkers themselves and simply admire the classic signs of this trait in others I suppose......

I am shocked at people who demonstrate little or no understanding of human nature.

Had the neighbours dicussed it with the OP beforhand, they would have objected to the plans, as they have done here. The neighbours would then have been forced to take the same course - lodging an application and putting up a notice to that effect.

Dav010

Easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

JimmyVik

My own opinion is that you should not be allowed to alter the outside of any house apart from sprucing it up.
You keep it as it was when you bought it and sell it if it doesnt suit anymore and buy one that does.

Dav010

JimmyVik wrote: »

My own opinion is that you should not be allowed to alter the outside of any house apart from sprucing it up.
You keep it as it was when you bought it and sell it if it doesnt suit anymore and buy one that does.

Not sure if you are being serious/sarcastic, but just in case:

Why shouldn’t you be allowed alter your home within planning regs/with permission?

I’d say mind your own business buddy, what I legally do with my property, is my business.

seamus

JimmyVik wrote: »

My own opinion is that you should not be allowed to alter the outside of any house apart from sprucing it up.
You keep it as it was when you bought it and sell it if it doesnt suit anymore and buy one that does.

On what basis? That you might disturb your neighbours?

Every type of property has trade offs.

If you choose to buy in an sub/urban setting, you have the noise of the city and of other people.

If you choose to buy rural, then you have few amenities within reach and may have to drive everywhere

If you choose a semi-D or a terrace, you will on occasion have periods of increased noise or other issues with neighbours (such as constrained parking).

Nobody gets to have it all. If peace and quiet is paramount to you, then buy something with sufficient distance between you and any neighbours. If you want to live closer to amenities, then you have to compromise.

A ban on all alterations, would be horrendous anyway from an environmental and infrastructural standpoint. The utility of property would diminish over time, resulting in estates being pulled down and redeveloped every few decades.

JimmyVik

Just an opinion. Feel free to have a different one.
Far too many monstrosities appearing in the middle of lovely little estates.
Houses are altered far too much when building extensions afaiac.
And for what its worth I also think there should be an immediate order to anyone who has those evergreen trees in their gardens to cut them down. Its one of the most ignorant things you can do to a neighbor is to have those things.

Mango Joe

cnocbui wrote: »

I am shocked at people who demonstrate little or no understanding of human nature.

Had the neighbours dicussed it with the OP beforhand, they would have objected to the plans, as they have done here. The neighbours would then have been forced to take the same course - lodging an application and putting up a notice to that effect.

You're confusing people having a reverent respect for the letter of the law and a love for the great beauty and elegance of the bureaucratic machine with someone being a honest, decent and likeable human being.

In my experience when people try and get to where they want to be by being calculated, sneaky and underhanded then they most often get the reaction they deserve - And when they don't it's a great pity.

JimmyVik

Mango Joe wrote: »

You're confusing people having a reverent respect for the letter of the law and a love for the great beauty and elegance of the bureaucratic machine with someone being a honest, decent and likeable human being.

In my experience when people try and get to where they want to be by being calculated, sneaky and underhanded then they most often get the reaction they deserve - And when they don't it's a great pity.

A colleague of mine told me years ago that he had bought a house and had plans to build a monster 2 story extension right up against the wall with the neighbor.
I asked him what did the neighbor think of that. He said that that night himself and the wife were going to call over with a bottle of wine and the plans and sweet talk them.
I never followed up to see how that went


Imagine the door bell rings. Oh, we are your new neighbors, came over to say hello. Here is a bottle of wine.
Come in. Lets open the wine. (oh these seem like lovely new neighbors)
Out come the plans.
What? Is that what you brought the fcuking wine over for. You total scheming scum.

sprucemoose

JimmyVik wrote: »

Far too many monstrosities appearing in the middle of lovely little estates

we have very few well designed estates in this country

Tacitus Kilgore

Jimmy sounds like the kind of lad who would leave a note on your windscreen for parking on "his part" of a public road.

sprucemoose

Mango Joe wrote: »

Shocked at the amount of posts on here basically snarking at the OP and saying "what's wrong with you? - Sure your Neighbour doesn't have to say a thing to you before building a massive structure beside your house and garden blocking all your sunlight and turning your pleasant back garden into a bleak, dark, grim and damp area" - Similar scenario for rooms that once had lovely natural sunlight throughout the day.

I presume most people would regard courtesy, decency and basic manners as being good personal attributes to have - Why wouldn't the same apply here?

In my opinion anyone with a scrap of common sense with neighbours would prefer to have civil, pleasant, friction-free dealings with them where at all possible.

It says a lot about people when they laugh at someone who is dismayed at a lack of common decency - Some people are just w@nkers themselves and simply admire the classic signs of this trait in others I suppose......

the neighbours probably should have consulted but they were under no obligation to do so, simple as that. from experience, i also doubt the proposed works are anywhere near what was originally described, if they indeed are then it would most likely be refused. id need to see the drawings to be sure of course but this tends to be the way it actually is

seamus

Mango Joe wrote: »

You're confusing people having a reverent respect for the letter of the law and a love for the great beauty and elegance of the bureaucratic machine with someone being a honest, decent and likeable human being.

In my experience when people try and get to where they want to be by being calculated, sneaky and underhanded then they most often get the reaction they deserve - And when they don't it's a great pity.

What you consider to be "basic courtesy" by telling a neighbour of your plans, some neighbours consider it an opening to have an opinion.

It takes some experience to know how to frame and direct the conversation. You're telling the neighbour out of common courtesy what you're doing, you're not asking for their approval or even their opinion. The conversation is not, "What do you think, is this OK?". It's, "This is happening, do what you need to be prepared".

Unfortunately no matter how assertive you may be, some neighbours will still think they're entitled to have you hear their opinion about your extension.

Some people have been burned enough times that they forgo the common courtesy completely because they see it as a waste of time.

Dav010

JimmyVik wrote: »

.
Far too many monstrosities appearing in the middle of lovely little estates.
Houses are altered far too much when building extensions afaiac..

Jimmy, not everyone wants the same little house as their neighbours in a lively little estate. If the house is for life, more room may be needed/wanted as families grow, and personally, I’d like my house to be different to the 100 others in the estate.

crossman47

Dav010 wrote: »

personally, I’d like my house to be different to the 100 others in the estate.

I disagree completely. I live in a well designed older estate where all exterior walls are white and all windows have the same design. Now new people are moving in and painting in different colours and changing the window design. It smacks of "this is mine and don't mistake it for anyone elses" and is ruining the clean cut look of the whole place.

Dav010

crossman47 wrote: »

I disagree completely. I live in a well designed older estate where all exterior walls are white and all windows have the same design. Now new people are moving in and painting in different colours and changing the window design. It smacks of "this is mine and don't mistake it for anyone elses" and is ruining the clean cut look of the whole place.

Human nature, not everyone wants everything to look the same.

0ph0rce0

Dav010 wrote: »

Human nature, not everyone wants everything to look the same.

I agree, it's boring, we live on a street of about 100 houses where all windows are the same, all windows are small panes in squares like 30cm x 20cm , horrible things.

We changed them to one big pane of clear glass. Murder there was, letters from neighbours and the residents association giving out.

They object to anything and everything.

But go look on the planning map and you'll see over half of the members of the residents association have had building work and changes done with no objections. Hmmmm.

Mostly a bunch of arseholes with too much time on their hands. Or they can't handle that someone's house could look better than theirs.

They still knock and leave messages at our door if our grass is over 1 inch, they get told to go **** themselves on a regulars basis. Apart from that, lovely area :pac:


EDIT: we also have a wanker at the back of us, we had trees there against the boundary wall, nothing majorly high. They complained about sun light all the time, they weren't getting any. So we got rid of them, cost us thousands.

What does he do? builds a huge workshop, the height of it was larger than the trees and spans wider than the trees that were there so he still has no sunlight.

**** the neighbours is what i say, you own your house and your property, If you want to build and it's all within the regs then who gives a **** what they think. I couldn't give a rats ass if i can't wave and say hello to mary from next door anymore. My life goes on.

cnocbui

JimmyVik wrote: »

My own opinion is that you should not be allowed to alter the outside of any house apart from sprucing it up.
You keep it as it was when you bought it and sell it if it doesnt suit anymore and buy one that does.

That is some carzy sh1t, right there. Needless to say, I wouldn't agree with that in any way.

Just a couple of days ago I stopped along a road near me to have a chat with a young woman to compliment her on the amazing job she and her husband had done in buying and doing up an old cottage and transforming it into something modern and sleek, where they expanded the available living area considerably by building a slightly larger, complimentary structure next to the transformed original.

Times change, families change, society changes and buildings often need to change to better fit the era.