Planning Conditions to New House

D

DeliaQuad

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I'm three months moved into my new house, which I bought off the builder. The PP for this house has conditions attached, one of which is a stone wall sympathetic to the locality to be built at the roadside. The house is now mine, the builder says he does not intend building a stone wall, my neighbour has just mentioned the wall to me...
My question is can I make the builder comply with the planning conditions he built the house under, or can my neighbour make me comply with them, now that I own the house? Specifically, who is liable to build the wall, me (owner), or builder (who sourced and recieved planning under these conditions)?
Thanks,
_DeliaQuad
 
The building should have been signed off by the architect that all conditions were complied with. Did you look for this when you purchased.
 
The builder would have needed an architects cert. of compliance with P.P. which he would have given to the solicitors as it would have formed part of the contract. You should first of all check with your solicitor to see what the position is in relation to this.

I never like to advise of this option but you do have the right to contact the local planning authority and first of all see if there were any minor amendments approved after the PP was granted and you also have the right to notify them that the conditions of the PP have not been complied with.

See how you get on with your solicitor first and then have another talk with the builder if necessary and explain things to him icluding the possibility of the local Council getting involved. Do it in an amicable fashion and hopefully he will sort you out
 
Read the conditions again.
We also had planning conditions, stating 'if a boundary wall is build, it must be a dry stone wall or similar.'. I took this to mean that I fi was building a wall, it would have to be as the condition stated. As my boundary is 60m plus, then I can't afford a wall, especially a dry stone one (14k quote). I put up a timber post and rail.

If the council want a stone wall, they can give me back my contribution they stole of me or else build it for me

B
 
IMO it would be the builders responsibilty to build the wall. He is the developer - it doesn't matter who owns the land (you don't have to own the land to apply for planning permission) yet he is the developer who used the planning permission granted to commence the development and it is his responsibilty to complete the development.

Talk to the builder and ask that he builds the wall. Explain that your neighbour wants to know when it will be started and completed. If he refuses advise him that you will be left with no alternative but to notify the Enforcement section of your LA. The builder "should" have provided a financial bond to protect the LA for non-completion of planning conditions - such as the stone wall - they can draw down the bond and use this money to pay for the stone wall. Best to avoid the LA if at all possible, so try your builder first.
 
I am in the same situation but I have not signed the contract yet. We raised the point with the builder but he bluntly refuses to build the wall. He has gotten his architect to change the cert of compliance and says unless we sign in the next week he is pulling out. We really like the house. Can he get away with this? What are my options? I don't really want to go to the LA.
 
it is only the builders responsibility if he included that build in the sale rather than [for example] just to build the house and you complete all other necessary site works.

As said your architect should be able to tell you all of this information and the house should NOT be signed off with a cert until ALL conditions are complete - even if you own the mortgage on the house.
 
Guys

When the site was sold an Opinion on Compliance would have needed to be produced by the vendor.

The wording of this Opinion would be critical and more importantly were there any conditions excluded, which often happens.

If an architect signed it off as being fully compliant with Planning Permssion, then he has left himself very open to being pursued, by the builder, should you pursue the builder to construct the wall.

VT
 
What happens if the architect amends his certificate after we questioned the origional. This amendment being done before we returned signed contracts.
 
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