Planning retention questions

Gadgie

I'm thinking about purchasing a property for sale in an auction, and trying to do as much investigation as possible myself before engaging a solicitor and surveyor. The property is a receiver sale, so details about the property are limited. I've been able to find some info myself on the local council's planning website.

The house and septic tank received planning permission in 2003, and a commencement notice was received by the planning department in 2007.
There are no scanned files available on the council's website for this application.

In 2008 a planning retention application was submitted for change of site boundaries, re-positioning of house and addition of a detached domestic garage.

• From the scanned files available for this application, I can see that the house was granted permission to be built facing east, but was built facing north. The detached garage was not in the original plans, but appears to have been built in accordance with the retention application. The septic tank location/orientation was unchanged.
• The council asked for further info in the form of a "section 47 agreement" to sterilise an adjacent plot to the north from development. Planning permission had been granted in 2004 for a different house on this plot, and plot was in ownership by the same family. This house was never built and planning presumably expired in 2009.
• Unfortunately it looks like this was around the time that the bank started proceedings against the owner, and the agreement requested by the council was never submitted. The application was "declared withdrawn" in 2009.

The house has never been lived in but appears almost finished (needs decorating, flooring, and kitchen and bathroom at least). I'd need a surveyor/engineer to check that water and electricity are available and septic tank has been built to specification.

I can pay cash for this house, so I'm not concerned about the bank needing the planning permission to be in order.

There doesn't appear to be any planning enforcements on this property, at least that I can see on the council's planning website. I understand that as the original planning expired in 2008 and more than seven years have passed without enforcement, I could not be forced to demolish the property at this stage. But I would be limited in my ability to sell the property in future, and in the event of a compulsory purchase order I would only receive the value of the land (I think a CPO would be unlikely given the location).

I have some questions that I hope some of you can answer (although some of them might be outside the scope of this forum).

• If the property was damaged/destroyed and needed to be rebuilt, I know that I would have no right to rebuild to its current state. But would I be allowed to rebuild according to the original planning, or is that now null and void? As far as I can tell, the house was built to the spec in the original planning, but facing north instead of east.
• Furthermore, is it possible to get building and/or contents insurance on a property not built to approved planning? As buildings insurance must cover the cost of rebuilding, but if rebuilding is not permitted would the insurance company pay out in case of damage/destruction?
• I would intend to re-apply for planning retention, but in the event of being denied could the council force me to demolish the house? I'm concerned that re-applying could reset the clock on the seven year rule for enforcements.
• If retention permission is granted, but with conditions that are onerous (for example paying a large contribution to the council that I couldn't afford, or demolishing the garage), would I need to comply or be forced to demolish the property? Or could I just let the permission lapse and maintain the status quo?

Thanks in advance for any replies, and let me know if you need me to provide any more info.

BryanF

- void
- if you tell the insurance about this issue you may struggle to get insurance / or it may be an exclusion
- seek local opinion from arch or planning consultant
- if permission was granted you’d have time to save for example for waste treatment upgrades. Not sure why you would let it lapse, impacting resale etc.