Council not acted on planning enforcement notice

Jake W · 14 Apr 2017

Hi All,

Hoping someone could help me out with the current situation that I am in. I was issued with an enforcement notice by my local planning authority and as a result, I applied for planning permission. My local council refused this and I subsequently appealed to the planning inspectorate. The appeal was also dismissed, however, I did not receive a new enforcement notice from the council outlining the time by which I must comply.

My question is: how much time does the council have to actually enforce an enforcement notice before the owner of the property can apply for the enforcement notice to be quashed?

The enforcement notice was issued due to the property being converted into flats without permission.

Thank you in advance,

Jake

bernardgreen · 14 Apr 2017

The original enforcement order and the timescales for compliance contained within it are almost certainly still in force.

Two appeals have been dismissed so you do not have planning permission and are most unlikely to ever get it. What makes you think there is any chance of the enforcement order being quashed ?

tony1851 · 14 Apr 2017

The original Enforcement Notice would (or should) have given you the time by which you must comply with the requirements of the order.

Jake W · 15 Apr 2017

bernardgreen said:
The original enforcement order and the timescales for compliance contained within it are almost certainly still in force.

Two appeals have been dismissed so you do not have planning permission and are most unlikely to ever get it. What makes you think there is any chance of the enforcement order being quashed ?

****

Thank you for your response - well, I was hoping that there is some time period in which the council must act, i.e. must enforce their own enforcement notice. As I understand that does not seem to be the case.

Rather than reverting the property to its original state, I am wondering if I can override this enforcement notice using a certificate of lawfulness application for more flats, i.e. the enforcement was for the flat being used as 8 flats, however, if I can show that it has been in fact used as 10 flats for more than 4 years, would that override the enforcement notice that has been put on the property?

Thanks in advance

freddiemercurystwin · 15 Apr 2017

The four/ten year rules are irrelevant once planning get wind within the appropriate time period. I don't think they have a deadline either by which they must implement enforcement.

bernardgreen · 15 Apr 2017

Are these 8 ( or 10 ) self contained flats each with own kitchen and bathroom or are they rented rooms with the tenants sharing kitchen(s) and / or bathroom(s).

If it could divided into ten self contained flats then it must have been one very large house.

An HMO (House of Multiple Occupation) comes to mind, in which case an enforcment order to revert to orignal use may be the least of your legal / financial worries.

tony1851 · 15 Apr 2017

@ Bernard - I think that is irrelevant because for a change of use from a dwelling to flats, the ten-year rule applies. And in any case, as an appeal aginst the Enforcement Notice has been made and refused, any evidence that it had been 10 flats for x years should have been presented then.
It would be unusual for an E.N. not to stipulate a time frame or date for the applicant to undertake the work specified in the Notice.

^woody^ · 16 Apr 2017

Phone the council and ask them how long you have got

Jake W · 16 Apr 2017

tony1851 said:
@ Bernard - I think that is irrelevant because for a change of use from a dwelling to flats, the ten-year rule applies. And in any case, as an appeal aginst the Enforcement Notice has been made and refused, any evidence that it had been 10 flats for x years should have been presented then.
It would be unusual for an E.N. not to stipulate a time frame or date for the applicant to undertake the work specified in the Notice.

Bernard, Tony,

As the council have informed me, it is the four year rule that is applicable to the change of use from a dwelling to flats. Ten year rule is applicable when a large HMO conversion is in question.

As for the original enforcement notice, a time frame was stipulated, however, as this was appealed, the appeal ran past the deadline of the enforcement notice, yet, after the appeal was turned down, I have not received anything from the local planning authority.

With respect to the 10 flats, they are all self-contained flats (large house indeed) in that they have their own bathrooms and kitchens. To be a bit more clear, I guess I am trying to understand whether I can apply for a certificate of lawfulness for 10 flats being used for a continuous period of 4 years given that the original enforcement notice stated that the flat was being used as 8 flats.

tony1851 · 16 Apr 2017

Jake W said:
Bernard, Tony,

As the council have informed me, it is the four year rule that is applicable to the change of use from a dwelling to flats. Ten year rule is applicable when a large HMO conversion is in question.

As for the original enforcement notice, a time frame was stipulated, however, as this was appealed, the appeal ran past the deadline of the enforcement notice, yet, after the appeal was turned down, I have not received anything from the local planning authority.

With respect to the 10 flats, they are all self-contained flats (large house indeed) in that they have their own bathrooms and kitchens. To be a bit more clear, I guess I am trying to understand whether I can apply for a certificate of lawfulness for 10 flats being used for a continuous period of 4 years given that the original enforcement notice stated that the flat was being used as 8 flats.

Your council is in error regarding the 4-year rule. Look up the T&CP Act s.171 (B) 1,2 and 3.
The 4-year rule only applies to conversion of a building to a single dwelling. Conversion of a large building to flats (ie separate dwellings) comes under a change of use and the 10-year rule.