Untidy property

[ChunkyBoy]

Had a letter from the council today saying they have had a complaint that my property is untidy. They mention section 215 of the town and coutry planning act and have given me 30 days to replace all the windown frames or repaint and repair them plus fascia boarding plus cut and remove and tidy front and back garden.
They also ask me to confirm my intentions in writing witn 14 days.

First question do i have to write back as i have phoned them for over 50 mintues today then left my name and phone number and they never phoned me back.

Second question as i have not got the money to pay for these repairs should and am i allowed more time to sort the problems out.

At present i have had my benefit money stopped and only get a phaze payment of £6 a week

[B00]

You could at least be seen to be making an effort to tidy your property to appease the council couldn't you? Tidying the property won't cost you anything.

[Barmaid]

I'm sorry I can't answer your question but hopefully someone like buildersmate might be able to help.

In the meantime, have you read this?

http://www.communitie...ilding/pdf/319798.pdf

[jackthehat]

Why not contact them by e-mail?

Explain your circumstances and state that you can tidy the garden areas but have no funds to carry out any 'repairs' to the property.

You need to start negotiating with them, I'm afraid.

[Barmaid]

Or JacktheHat!!!!

[ChunkyBoy]

A pensioner friend is coming to try and help me tidy up the front garden, I have been up on the bay roof to look at the first floor windows and i became dizzy and near fell off the roof.
I have a spinal problem amongst other things and i am on strong medication and was told not to go up ladders at the heath clinic

[jackthehat]

You need to explain that sort of thing to the relevant department.

They usually try to work *with* people on these matters, but you MUST start some sort of dialogue with them.

[Graham-W]

Is it your own house or is it rented?
If rented contact your landlord regarding the window frames, fascia and other structural problems.
You'll have to make some attempt to tidy your gardens yourself. Cutting the grass would be a start.

[ChunkyBoy]

jackthehat

My phone line and my broadband is being cut off and i just thoght i would try this site for some advice.

What is the worse thing that can happen if i only get the front garden sorted. At the back of the property i have a very large garden which is wild but i am visited by all different birds over the winter months as they like the bushes.

[ChunkyBoy]

Graham-W
I am still paying for the property ( mortage) from my works pension

[buildersmate]

The only additional useful thing I can think to add to JtH's good advice is to copy and paste the wording of the relevant s215 - so at least you know what you are up against. This is it:

s215 : Power to require proper maintenance of land
(1)If it appears to the local planning authority that the amenity of a part of their area, or of an adjoining area, is adversely affected by the condition of land in their area, they may serve on the owner and occupier of the land a notice under this section.
(2)The notice shall require such steps for remedying the condition of the land as may be specified in the notice to be taken within such period as may be so specified.
(3)Subject to the following provisions of this Chapter, the notice shall take effect at the end of such period as may be specified in the notice.
(4)That period shall not be less than 28 days after the service of the notice.

What's probably more important to you is what the penalties are for non-compliance. This is covered in s216 (unsurprisingly). I won't copy and paste it as it is rather long, but you can view it here:
http://www.legislatio...8/section/216/enacted

The level 3 penalty that it refers to is currently a maximum of £1000, as far as I can work out.

[jackthehat]

The worse thing that can happen is that they can/will take you to court (have you read the link that Barmaid provided?) and your troubles will only increase.
Write them a letter making sure that you give them all the relevant information and ask for an officer to make an appointment to visit you.

It is possible to create a 'wildlife' garden without it being an eyesore.

I imagine that your house has been dilapidating for quite some while.

[ChunkyBoy]

I thank you all for posting and will have a look at the links. I have not been able to eat any food since i received the letter and the tablets that i am taking have maid me feel sick so i must log off.

Once again thank you.

[jackthehat]

Let us know how you get on. :o)

[ChunkyBoy]

Have still not eaten and had any sleep but have spoken to the person from the council and explained my medical problems and explained my financial problems.

He is comoing to check the property next week and has apologized that the letter they sent me has caused me to worry and made me ill they are going to have alook at rewording the letters.

So long as they can see that i am doing some work on the property will allow me more time at first he said he would extend it to another month meaning all the work they wanted must be compleated by mid December.

After explaining my medical conditions it seems that he may allow more time Thank you for the links but i could not read them all as it just made me worry more, After having this short rest at the computer i am back out to finish off the front garden.

[Graham-W]

Well done, ChunkyBoy. At least you're making a start. Ask the council guy if he knows of any volunteer schemes in your area who may be able to help, especially with the painting.

[bushbaby_de]

There are normally several stages to this process. Assuming this is the very first letter you have received, I would suggest that you do as much as you are able to do before the deadline they have given you, and then they can decide if you've done enough or not. Even if you don't do everything in the letter you might be able to do enough that the property is no longer in a poor enough state to warrant service of a s215 notice. However if you do this you will need to be careful not to let things deteriorate too much in the future as you may not get a second warning before an actual notice arrives.

Whereabouts in the country are you? Maybe we can organise an AB volunteer party to come help you?

[joko]

i was under the impression that if you owned the property you could have it look any way you choose ... as long as its not creating a hazard or causing vermin

and only if its council owned etc could they say anything...?

unpainted window frames is surely just cosmetic and not their business?

[joko]

and when they say tidy the garden - do they just mean its overgrown?

or is it full of rusty fridges and old garbage bags etc?

[bushbaby_de]

joko - a Council can use a s215 notice for any land that is detrimental to the amenity of the area, whether they own it or not - its part of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as per BM's earlier post.

[SUSPECT]

This kind of thing is happening all over the country


http://www.worcestern..._to_pay___2k/?ref=rss