Planning issue / urgent disabled lady

[Nicwills]

Can anybody help me ?
in 2016 I had building permission for double storey side extension and single rear . In November last year I had to make the decision to sell my home and look for a bungalow after being registered disabled . It was then that we found the architect had left a 2 metre square missing at the end of the single storey ext . He had realised at the time and produced another set of drawings including the missing bit however , someone in his admin had mistakenly sent the first drawing . The build has been up for eight years and we decided to contact the council and ask for an amendment , we pad a lot of money ( money that we don’t have ) but we wanted to put it right . As the build was finished before 2024 the architect said it would be okay but it’s not . The man from the council looked at both sets of drawings when he visited, he could see the mistake and said it’s not a problem but now he is saying because it has not been there for ten years we could be liable to enforcement . I am so distressed and I don’t know what to do . We approached the council to put right something that was not our fault or in our control . I’m so scared I’ve not been able to sleep or eat properly for months and I just want this to be over . Please help if you can , any advice would be hugely appreciated . Many many thanks

[PallasAthena]

A common thing people do in situations like this is apply for a retrospective amendment to the planning permission to bring it in line with what has actually been built.

It's not something I know a lot about but did the council planning officer discuss this with you?

I agree that you need to get this resolved before you put the house on the market.

[Nicwills]

Good morning and many thanks for your reply . For the last couple of months it seems to have been a battle of egos between the architect and the planning officer , the argument has just gone around and around while we are stuck in the middle. Nobody has offered an alternative to get this resolved and I cannot even begin to tell you how stressful this has been . Common sense can see it was a mistake , we haven’t knowingly done anything wrong . I’m just so lost .

[PallasAthena]

So you have an architect working for you and negotiating with the council on your behalf? Ask what they recommend - that's what you are paying them for.

Specifically ask them whether a retrospective planning application or lawful development certificate might be the way forward

[islandgirl]

I would also suggest contacting your councillor who can help move things forward more quickly. It seems relatively simple to resolve - I recently assisted a resident (I am a councillor) who had a window where they should not have had one according to the plans for an extension. The matter had been sitting in planning for months and the resident needed it sorting to sell their house - one sale had fallen through because of it. It was resolved very quickly - I think a certificate of lawfulness was issued but there was no need for a further planning application in that case. Get your councillor onto it!

[Tofros]

Transitional provisions were enacted in statutory instrument no 452 of 2024 sections 5-9.

the old 4 year rule applies if the building was substantially completed before 25 April 2024.

you should point that out to them and provide evidence that the breach had subsisted for at least 4 years, such as dated aerial photos, invoices, to prove on the balance of probabilities that the build had become lawful. The build already became lawful 4 years after it was substantially completed.

What you should be asking for is a lawful development certificate, not an amended or retrospective permission.