Planning

[Lomax]

Hi, I wonder whether anyone could give me a pointer in the right direction please?

I'm in the UK and my neighbour has decided to build a second house on his land which will sit about 2m from our mutual boundary. It's a two-storey building but not massive. It will however completely cut off the view from my bedroom and kitchen. So my question is - do I have any right to complain and under current planning rules, am I likely to be able to stop him? We are not in a conservation area...

Thanks

Lomax

[jackthehat]

You can write a letter with your concerns to the Planning Officer dealing with the application.

The Planners ought to contact you directly, in any case, regarding the proposals, and you can view the plans on-line,

[Arrods]

Has your property been there for 20+ years? If so, it will have acquired a 'legal right to light'. Depending on the potential impact on the light to your rooms, you may have a case against the neighbour which could result in modification to the new structure, compensation or even demolition of the new building. Even if the local authority pass the building plans, this does not override any legal right to light. Suggest you take advice from a right to light surveyor.

[buildersmate]

You must have a strangely oriented house. It is usual for habitable rooms to face either the garden or the front roadside of a plot.
If say you have a chalet bungalow with the gables facing front and back, then the main bedrooms in the chalet workspace could easily face to the sides.
You have no right to a view however you do have certain rights when it comes to principle windows of the new dwelling not pointing directly into your Windows or garden.
As the above says, you can object on the above grounds.

[Lomax]

Thank you, that's very interesting. My house has certainly been there for more than 20 years but they're building 2m back from the boundary so it's more sky that I'll miss though I guess there will be naturally a reduction in light. Does the right to light currently exist in the UK? It looks like something that's being planned:

http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/areas/rights-to-light.htm

[jackthehat]

I'm afraid there is no such thing as a 'right to a view'.....
Will the construction throw any of your Habitable Rooms into shadow?
That is the thing to concentrate on rather than the impact on any 'view' you may have.

[buildersmate]

...and Arrods ideas are not recommended. It only creates work for lawyers and an expensive civil case that you might not win. Use the planning system.

[Lomax]

My house is semi-detached and my neighbour who is trying to build is about 50m away of which about 5m is mine. My lounge looks sideways into my 5m garden and it's a room which only has 2 windows so it will end up looking at the side of his house rather a hedge and the sky. It's a similar situation with the main bedroom upstairs which also looks out the side and the rear.

Thanks

[Arrods]

Right to light most certainly does exist. It's true that the Law Commission has consulted on modifying it, but any changes are a long way off. Bear in mind that the local authority must also take account of the impact on light, though the test may not be as high as the 'legal' right.

[Lomax]

I've found a 45 degree rule - would that apply?

http://www.planning-applications.co.uk/righttolight.htm

[Arrods]

Buildersmate. OK I'll come clean. We were in the same position as Lomax. Our local authority passed similar plans in respect of our neighbour's proposed extension, despite our objections. We took the case to the Local Government Ombudsman on the grounds that the LA had not followed their own guidelines. The Ombudsman, though sympathetic, ruled that the LA had acted properly. So I researched right to light with the help of my son and eventually the neighbour backed down and the extension was never built.

OK, going the LA route may well prove the right course. I hope it does for Zlomax's sake. But, if our experience is anything to go by, the LA cannot necessarily be relied upon. There's no harm in making enquiries about right to light as a back up. I can tell you that we had 5 years of hell while all this was going and goodness knows what effect it would have had if the extension had been built.

[Arrods]

Doesn't appear from what you say that the 45 degree rule will apply - but, if it does, you can be sure that it is a rule that the LA will certainly have to follow.

[Lomax]

Thank you all for your help.