In this case, our client became involved in a planning enforcement investigation relating to a side infill extension to the side return, the narrow area beside the rear outrigger of a Victorian house.
Planning permission had originally been granted for an extension with a height of 2.5m. During construction, however, it was built to a height of around 2.9m. Newham Council considered that this additional height would cause harm to the neighbouring property on the other side of the boundary and refused a retrospective planning application.
As a result, the client faced formal enforcement action and the very real possibility of having to demolish the extension or reduce its height. That would not have been straightforward, given the steelwork that had already been installed.
Side infill extensions of this kind are extremely common, particularly to Victorian houses. They allow homeowners to open up the narrow rear spaces and create a more usable family living area. The difficulty is that, where the neighbouring property has not extended in the same way, councils can become concerned about overshadowing or enclosure on the neighbour’s side.
Different councils take very different approaches. Some adopt a flexible, case-by-case assessment. Others apply fairly rigid rules of thumb, such as requiring the extension to be no higher than 2m along the boundary, often with a sloping roof above that point.
In this appeal, we argued that the modest increase in height did not cause any material harm. We explained that the neighbouring side return was already enclosed on three sides and was not used as outdoor amenity space. There were no habitable room windows close to the boundary. We also relied on appeal decisions in similar circumstances where inspectors had taken a pragmatic view.
The inspector agreed. He concluded that the extension would not cause any unacceptable harm to the neighbour and granted full planning permission.
This case is a good example of why enforcement and retrospective cases need to be assessed in the round, rather than by rigid measurement alone.
We are Newham enforcement appeal specialists. If you are facing enforcement action or have been refused planning permission for an extension, it is worth taking advice on whether an appeal is likely to succeed.
