Some council planning decisions are just simply, straight-forwardly, obviously unfair.
Take this one as an example. The house either side of Elton’s building both had large rear dormer roof extensions (as you can see from the image as to the side of this post).
Those dormers had been built using permitted development rights. However, because his building had been converted into two flats, Elton did not have any of the standard householder permitted development rights and so he had to apply for full planning permission.
Councils don’t like these larger rear box dormers and most have planning guidance that says they shouldn’t be allowed. However, it must be obvious that exceptions should be made for circumstances like this where either side already have the same kind of development.
Given what had been built by neighbours, Elton’s dormer was very unlikely to harm the character and appearance of the house or wider area, as Enfield claimed.
The appeal inspector agreed with us that the dormer was well designed, not visible from the street and similar to the ones built to neighbouring homes to either side. There were no solid planning grounds to withhold consent. We were delighted when the appeal was allowed and planning permission granted.
If you are refused planning permission, you must always consider submitting an appeal. Just Planning are householder appeal experts – we submit hundreds of appeals like this one every year and win most of them. If you have been refused permission, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by emailing the details to info@just-planning.co.uk.
