Retention or Exempt

D

Dettie

New Member
Messages
3
Hi all. My father had a holiday home built in a rural area in 2001. It was a bungalow with 4 bedrooms & the end room was to be a garage with an up 'n over type door( facing the road). However this door was subsequently changed to a window & the room became a bedroom. I am not 100% sure if this was done at the time of construction or shortly thereafter. The room is approx 20m squared. There was no other alterations done to this room . My father now wishes to sell this house & is concerned that the change will not be compliant & would hold up any sale. So am wondering if (1) how would I find out if it is compliant (2) should we ignore it (3) would it be difficult for a layperson i.e me to apply for exemption if that was what was required and (4) does the timeframe of the door to window change make any difference to its legal status?
Thank you
 
Id say dont do anything until its flagged (if it is), as the seven year rule may come into play then. It should be straightforward for you to sign a deed of declaration at that stage to say there has never been enforcement action.
Note im not an expert, just gained an insight when buying my house recently and there were some minor planning issues.
 
Thank you for that dubdub123. So now I'm wondering if we'd still need to get Cert of Compliance as that would just highlight the fact that we changed a door to a window?
 
Even when the 7 years enforcement window (12 years where planning has been granted) has elapsed, non-compliant developments can still be problematic. Any future developments might be blocked until such time as the non-compliant development is removed.

That said, this could well be an exempted development. A local engineer would be able to guide on that and provide a certificate of compliance. Most decent solicitors will look for certification that what's on the ground is planning compliant, so you might be best looking to arrange that in advance of putting it up for sale.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top