Andy Hall wrote:
On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 13:02:13 +0100, "JK" wrote:

The property behind mine has a large makeshift shed. Because the
level of their garden is about 2ft higher, the height is about 3m
above the level of our lawn. Now he's saying he wants to build it in
brick, ie rip down the shanty-town thing that is there and replace
it with a brickbuilt outhouse. Anyone know what rules would govern
this? It seems a bit excessively high to be built right up against
my fence, and shouldn't he have toget planning permission?


It is dependent on the area and height of the shed.

Planning permission is not required if:

1. It does not project in front of any wall of the house which fronts
onto a highway (road, footpath, service road, garage court), unless
the highway is more than 20 metres away;

2. If any part of the building will be within 5 metres of any part of
the house, it should not have a cubic content(i.e. length x width x
height external measurements) greater than 10 cubic metres.

3. The height of the building/structure does not exceed 4 metres with
a pitched roof or 3 metres in any other case.

4. The total area of ground covered by buildings/structures(not
including the original dwellinghouse) within the garden would not
exceed 50% of the total garden area (excluding the area of the
original house).

5. The cubic content of the building does not exceed 10 cubic metres
if your property is a listed building or within a conservation area.

6. There is not a planning condition attached to the original planning
consent for the property stating that no sheds or other structures can
be erected without the prior approval of the local planning authority.
If you are not certain please check with the planning division.

7. The property is not within an area where an Article 4 direction is
in force, such as a conservation area.



Building regulations application is not required if:

1. The building is detached and has a floor area of 15 square metres
or less.

2. The building is detached and is more than 1 metre from the boundary
(or is constructed largely of non-combustible materials) and has a
floor area 30 square metres or less.

However, this is the situation for a "temporary" building like a shed
which is not used for habitation.


I'm worried because our house is currently being sold, and I don't
want to get into a dispute which might endanger the sale, but on the
other hand, I can't ignore it.

I think that given the circumstances of selling it, ignoring it is the
right thing to do.

If you get into any type of dispute with the neighbour, including
raising the issue with the local authority, you will have to declare
it to potential buyers.

If the building is replaced with something in brick and it is properly
done (may be a big if) then that wouldn't that be an improvement?

It really depends on how imminent the sale is. If it is ongoing,
then I would have thought doing nothing is the best option.

If the neighbour is doing something that doesn't conform to building
regulations then the new owner will be able to have that dealt with by
the local authority. The same is true if planning permission is
needed and not sought. Either it would be granted, or it wouldn't
for statutory reasons, or it would be a planning committee decision.

In none of those cases would that be altered by you being there or the
successor owner of your house.

Any prospective purchaser is going to see the shed next door and will
either be put off by it or not.

I don't see the point in making an issue of it.


John


.andy

I can certainly see the logic in this. But do I not still have a
responsibility to inform buyers of the imminent building of a large brick
shed at the bottom of the garden? Even if I don't involve the council it
will become obvious that I have omitted to tell them. I guess you're right
that the current structure has not put them off, so a better one should not
bother them either. He does intend to make it wider however. If it wasn't
for the sale, I would want to involve the council as I think neighbours
should be consulted when a large structure like this goes up.