Can you view old planning permission etc on a property? 3 questions for you lovely peeps :0)

[andrea1]

Hi, we're thinking of buying a house that has a large extention (done several years back I believe) and I was wondering if you can view the plans of the house before the extention and after the extention?
Also, can you check planning permission was granted?

Finally, the owners say they only bought the house 4 years ago but when I look it up on nethouseprices to see what they paid for it, it shows that the house hasn't been sold since 2000 (at least, as that's as far back as the open registry for house prices goes) so could it just be a weird oversight on the land registry or are the owners telling porkies for some reason? (can't think why?)
Any help greatly appreciated!!!!
Kind Regards
Andrea :0)

[Buenchico]

All planning applications, whether granted or not, are public documents are must be kept on file by your local council. (If the house is not in a 'unitary' or 'metropolitan' area, that will be the district council, not the county one).

Simply call in at the local council office during normal office hours. (If they've got several locations, you obviously need to check exactly where the planning department is based). The documents will be available 'on demand' (although it might save you a bit of time to phone ahead, so that you don't have to wait while they locate the relevant file). There's no charge for consulting the documents but most councils charge quite high fees (e.g. several pounds per page) for providing photocopies.

The documents in the file, together with any relevant information from the (always helpful) planning staff, will answer all of your questions.

Chris

PS: The file will not only show any planning applications, but also any letters of objection from the neighbours. Reading them can often prove to be very entertaining ;-)

[andrea1]

Buenchico, my hero, again!!! (yes, I remember how helpful you've been in the past to me! :0) ) As you know, i'm a cheeky minx and slightly scatty and just wanted to ask you if the file with the planning permissions etc that I view from the council office will also tell me when the house was sold previously and for how much? I know you said it will answer all my questions but I just wanted to double check so I don't have to keep looking elsewhere for answers as that ones quite important. :0)
Thanks again, you star you!
Warm regards and jaffa cakes
@@@@@@
Andrea :0)

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your reply, Andrea, (and for the kind comments).

The information at the planning office won't have any record of the sale of the property. However, the title register will show when ownership was transferred. It will cost you �3 (but when you're probably considering spending well over �100,000 on the house that's not exactly a massive investment, is it?):
http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/
(I regard that as the only reliable source of information. Nethouseprices.com claims to operate under licence from the Land Registry but I'd rather get my information direct 'from the horse's mouth').

Chris

PS: I'll keep checking my post for those Jaffa Cakes ;-)

[buildersmate]

Just a little more to add.
I have found a number of situations where the Land Registry Title (obtainable for �3 online as Chris says) does show a price paid whilst the various websites purporting to show such information do not. Therefore worth forking out the �3. The system to include the purchase price only started in 2000 so it is never shown prior to that date..

[andrea1]

Hi Chis and buildersmate, thanyou very much for your replies, most helpful and much appreciated....
more jaffas for you chris @@@@ :0)....and, of course, some for you buildersmate @@@@ :0).
I'm going to pop into the council offices this week to see what turns up and i'll do that �3 land registry thingy aswell......definately worth the money!
Warm Regards
Andrea :0)

PS: Just on the offchance, if either of you know anything about knocking downs walls and really (really) rough ideas of how much it costs for a builder to do it then please keep an eye out for another post i'm going to try to put up tonight or tomorrow in the property category and maybe you can help again......see, cheeky minx.....but if you don't ask lol.....in any case, thanks again! :0)

[susanb504]

you can go to the local planning office and freely view any planning applications.

Phone the land registry re your other query.

[buildersmate]

Deja vue. Don't you read what other people write?