fbpx

Extending Your Home? Do You Need Planning Permission?

22nd August 2016 By Arman Khosravi

Planning rules relating to home extensions are complex but a householder’s victory in a High Court test case is expected to make it significantly easier for some people to enlarge their homes without the need for planning permission.

The man had already built a two-storey extension to his home pursuant to a planning consent granted in 2000. However, he wished to construct a further single-storey extension and applied to the local authority for prior approval. He argued that the extension would be permitted development, not requiring permission.

In refusing to grant approval, the council disagreed and its decision was subsequently upheld by a government planning inspector. The man’s challenge to the latter decision hinged on the meaning of the phrase ‘the enlarged part of the dwelling house’ in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.

The Order automatically grants planning consent for many modest home extensions, but does not permit developments that are greater than a certain area or height or where the enlarged part would be more than one storey. The inspector held that the enlarged part was not merely the extension proposed but included the earlier extension. The consequence, he found, was that the proposal was not permitted development as the pre-existing extension had more than one storey.

In upholding the man’s challenge to that decision, the Court held that the inspector had erred in law. On a true interpretation of the Order, the enlarged part of the dwelling included only the proposed new extension. The earlier extension should therefore have been left out of account. It is considered that the Court’s decision may require amendment of government guidance on householder permitted development rights.

Source: Concious

Latest News

Tenants Can Purchase Freehold When Landlord Cannot Be Found

11th June, 2024 By

The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 gives qualifying leaseholders the right to join together to buy the freehold of their properties – a process known as collective enfranchisement. A recent case demonstrated that this right can be exercised even when the landlord cannot be found. The leaseholders of two flats in a terraced house wished to purchase it from the landlord, but were unable to ascertain his whereabouts and therefore could not serve notice on him under Section 13 of the Act. They therefore applied for an...

Court Refuses to Set Aside Divorce Order Applied for by Mistake

6th June, 2024 By

While the courts have a range of powers to set aside orders, they will only exercise them in limited circumstances. In a somewhat surprising case that has attracted much comment, the High Court declined to set aside a final order of divorce that had been applied for by mistake. A couple separated in January 2023, after more than 21 years of marriage. In October that year, while financial remedy proceedings were still ongoing, the wife's legal representatives inadvertently applied for a final order of divorce in respect of her instead...

Waiting Time for Grants of Probate Falls

3rd June, 2024 By

Following concerns last year about delays in processing probate applications, recent figures from HM Courts and Tribunals Service show that waiting times for grants of probate are continuing to improve. The average time from submission of a probate application to probate being granted fell to 11.3 weeks in March 2024, a decrease from 13.7 weeks in February and 13.8 weeks in January. This is the lowest figure since March 2023, when the average was 10.8 weeks. The longest waiting time since then was in November, at 15.8 weeks: that month,...

Late Appeal Against Tax Penalties Rejected

31st May, 2024 By

It is incumbent on taxpayers to make sure they fully comply with their obligations to file returns and pay any tax due. The point was illustrated by a recent case in which a taxpayer whose return had not been received by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) failed to persuade the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) that he should be permitted to appeal against the resulting penalties. On the evening of 31 January 2014, the man had completed his 2012/13 Income Tax return on HMRC's website. Shortly afterwards he went to Cyprus, and...