Apologies if this is in the wrong place!

My neighbour has erected a conservatory on his house and as far as I am aware he doesn't need planning permission?

My house is terraced, his property adjoins mine and his is the end house.

My concern is the close proximity of his conservatory to my fence line. It seems very close to our fence and there is only approx 1-2 inch gap between both. If he opens one of the top windows of the conservatory, it opens over the fence 'into' my garden.

He wouldn't be able to open one of the other windows as the fence post is too high and obstructs the window.

I have also had to buy blinds for our kitchen now as they have full view into my kitchen and have caught him a few time looking in, although I'm sure it wasn't intentional.

Is he able to build so close to the fence line?

Many thanks

ussually small conservatorys are exempt from planning permission subject to conditions

however in my experiance conditions vary from area to area, your best bet is ussually to contact your local councils planning department

if its any thing like my local theres ussually a reply in around 2 days

surly if he was stood in his garden before building was done he would of been able to see in through your window? as long as the work has been done in his own grounds then you cant realy complain,again check with local council to see where you stand but chances are as long as its not to big then it will be ok for him to keep.

Thanks Labrat.

Hi Billy Bob66 - no he was unable to see over the fence at all. As the conservatory is on a raised concrete base and he has full view through my kitchen and garden now.

Check with your council. As a permanent structure our Council requres full planning permission to be applied for, and if the floor area is over 5sq m, a Building Warrant is required too.

There are also situations where even patio decking not only needs plannig permission, but it is refused because the additional elevation causes the problems you describe.

Go to your Council's planning office website and take it from there. Most professional conservatory firms apply automatically for PP, so your first check is if he has applied for it. There is also a requirement for 'Neighbour Notification' where all neighbours sharing a boundary have to be advised prior to the application being considered (to permit objections).

If a DIY job, this important part of the arrangement has been avoided, and leaves it at risk of enforcement to demolish.

When my neighbours put a conservatory up we recieved a letter from the council asking us if we are ok about it, we were as its on the other side of their garden but my point is if everything was done correctly you may have been asked. The fact you was not asked could mean its not got planning permission.

Contact the planning dept and ask.

Contact the planning dept and ask.

It is the only way to find out. Parts of planning regs were relaxed some time ago while others were tightened so they may not need planning permission on something like square footage but have overstepped the mark on height.

When my neighbours put a conservatory up we recieved a letter from the council asking us if we are ok about it, we were as its on the other side of their garden but my point is if everything was done correctly you may have been asked. The fact you was not asked could mean its not got planning permission.

 

Contact the planning dept and ask.

Your right in the fact that the Council do contact you but we did not receive anything when our next door neighbours went up (quite close too). Our houses in our road go 1,2,3,4 etc instead of 2,4,6,8 etc so the council informed the next but one house to us instead of ourselves next door so we knew nothing about it until the work had started.

You may be able to locate planning applications/drawings on the councils websites for things like this as mentioned already:idea:

Your right in the fact that the Council do contact you but we did not receive anything when our next door neighbours went up (quite close too). Our houses in our road go 1,2,3,4 etc instead of 2,4,6,8 etc so the council informed the next but one house to us instead of ourselves next door so we knew nothing about it until the work had started.

 

You may be able to locate planning applications/drawings on the councils websites for things like this as mentioned already:idea:

Our road is the same for house numbering! I guess it's possible that is what happened.

Thanks for all your great advice, will give the planning department a call.

The conservatory itself is ok, just the close proximity and the fact that they can now see into our kitchen (which leads into the front room) and have full view of our back garden because of the raised base.

Planning Portal: Interactive House Guide

Click on 'Launch the guide' and you can see exactly what is and what isn't required and if permission is required or not.

It shouldn'r be the council that is responsible for neighbour notification, but the applicant. He has to confirm that he has served notice on all appropriate adjoining properties. NOT doing so, or claiming falsely that it has been done is a serious issue.

If it's within the size for permitted development then he didn't have to inform the neighbours at all. It would have to be a pretty big extension to need planning permission.

Just before the rules changed there was a flurry of activity around me as people rushed to pave over their front gardens while they still could without permission. Since they've changed there's been loads of extensions built.

Just checked with my local council 'permitted development' does not include Conservatories or elavated decking. Garden shets are OK as are greenhouses. I think the OP needs to be guided by the rules pertaining to his own area.

I don't know if this will help you.

I am on the local Parish Council, we approve most applications regarding Conservatories.

Planning Permission for Conservatories