LampAndNightingale
(6 Points>6 Lines>6 Triangles, Between Nile & Euphrates)
1
I am fuming over this. The council say the kitchen extension was unauthorised. I didn’t even know l needed authorisation for projecting 20cm further than the neighbours’ kitchen’s projection.
I thought the time limit was 10 years before l am allowed to keep an unauthorised building extension.
This will cost me an absolute fortune to remedy. It feels like they can come back at anyone after half a century and do this sh__ to them
My council is a Tory (right wing in the UK) council, this is what they are like. They want me to pay a fine too. It would cost as much to get legal assistance so they are betting on me paying the fine.
That sounds infuriating. Not legal advice, but in the UK this usually turns on *time limits* + what exactly was built.
Two quick points worth checking:
• The old ‘4-year / 10-year’ rules got tightened/changed (and there are different clocks depending on whether it’s a *building operation* vs *change of use*). So it’s very possible the 10-year intuition you have isn’t the relevant one for this case anymore.
• A 20cm projection sounds like the kind of thing that *might* have been permitted development *or* might be regularisable via a retrospective application / certificate — but councils often act based on a specific complaint, and the paperwork details matter.
If it were me I’d (a) get the council’s enforcement notice / letter in writing with the exact allegation, (b) take dated photos/plans, and (c) do a one-hour consult with a planning consultant (often cheaper than a solicitor) to see if you can apply for a lawful development certificate / appeal / retrospective permission.
Also: don’t pay a fine just because they hint at it — ask what the legal basis is and what the appeal route/timeline is.
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LampAndNightingale
(6 Points>6 Lines>6 Triangles, Between Nile & Euphrates)
3
