Max’s cottage in South Bucks had been converted from an old barn and is located in the Green Belt. National planning policy restricts development in the Green Belt, so the council added a condition to the decision notice removing permitted development rights. This stopped him from extending the house in the future without the need for a full planning application. In addition, though the house was on a large plot, the council insisted that only a small area of land around it could be used as garden.
The garden was so small as to be impractical and the government’s planning guidance and policies make clear that being in the Green Belt is not good enough reason, on its own, to remove a householder’s permitted development rights.
We worked with Max on a series of planning applications and planning appeals to expand the size of his the garden (the curtilage of the dwelling, in the planning jargon) and to reinstate permitted development rights for the whole property. The council did not make it easy and it was a big of a long journey but we were delighted to get there in the end.
If you have issues with the curtilage around your house, or if your house has had its permitted development rights removed by way of a planning condition, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice and assistance. For more on reinstating permitted development rights, please see our article here.
