I’ve exchanged on a house and am due to complete at the end of the month. It’s a 1970s old-lady bungalow: upvc windows, avocado bathroom, swirly carpet. Lots of potential, one might say.

My architect has drawn up plans for a rear dormer (critical for us to fit in) and put in a lawful use application. Since I’m bothering with structural calculations, building control fees and the like, I thought I may as well have a porch and make the existing front dormer larger. All of these changes (front and rear) went in to a planning application.

The planning officer has been in touch saying that the permitted development rights were removed from the rear as a condition of the 1970s planning application and I should withdraw my lawful use application. He’s helpfully attached a copy, and there it is, clear as day, even to a non lawyery type like me: no windows allowed in the roof at the rear.

He’s also said that everything is too big and wouldn’t “be supported”.

Clearly, I have a big fat problem with the solicitor. They definitely knew I need to extend. Not one sniff of this whopping great big restriction. Nada. By failing to spot this I feel like I have offered to buy for a price that makes the whole property financially marginal and exchanged on incomplete information.

The house is in a great location, great neighbourhood, lovely plot. There is hot competition for other houses and prices have risen since I had my offer accepted. I’m not sure I can afford an equivalent house now. Plus, I’m in a rental flat where my age 14 son can’t bare to share a room with his 12 year old sister so they are in the bedrooms and I’m sleeping on the floor. We need to get out of here and not have endless further delays. I just want to buy it, build the rear dormer and move in.

How would you proceed?

I’d say there’s not a lot you can do. You are now committed to buy otherwise you lose your deposit.

I’m not sure there’s much liability on the solicitor’s front unless you said to them, I need to put a dormer in, is there any reason why I can’t. I’m no expert but I think their remit is to ensure you can live in the place as is together with any financial liabilities that might arise as a result of you doing so. I don’t think it extends to advising you on whether you can extend.

Usually the solicitor will send you all of the deeds / searches etc and whilst it’s a bit late now, it’s always sensible to read this yourself to make sure you know what you’re getting in to. E.g. some have convents about caravans or hedge / fence heights at the front, if these are deal breakers for you then I don’t think you have any recourse to the solicitor for not telling you that you can’t grow lelandi or park the winibago. If you read the documents and ask them can I park the winibago and they tell you something that isn’t right then I’m not sure how it works feels like in theory you have some recourse, no idea in practice though..

Get your Architect to revise his design to something that will be supported by the planning officer.
Look at other similar local properties & see if/how they have been extended in a similar manner to your requirements.
Withdraw the Lawful Development Application as it is not relevant & submit a householder planning application.
Just because the Permitted Development Rights have been removed, doesn’t mean that you cannot achieve a planning approval for your extension.

Seems sensible to put in a standard planning application, I have plenty of strange convents in my deeds but they were written over 50 years ago so won’t all be quite so relevant now.

As above

– find any precedents for extensions similar to yours on nearby similar properties.

– go to architect asap and ask them to revise plans, while both of you have a conversation with planning.

– drink lots of water and ask solicitor to take his shoes off…

Withdraw the planning app and do the stuff at the back you want to do. Then put planning in for the front stuff later….

Or what NS said ^^ up there, and then maybe tweak it when you have planning permission. It all a game…

My housing development has permitted development rights removed on original permission. My solicitor told me pre purchase.

Lots of extensions and porches gone up, none have ever been refused, one had to move conservatory over by 300mm away from boundary which they would have got away with under pd.

As above just because the pd rights are removed doesn’t mean permission will be refused.

Talk to the planner about what would be accepted and look for precedent.

Nothing useful to say really, but having just completed on a house I know how stressful it can be even without major hiccups, so I feel for you OP.

The only gremlin I discovered was a covenant banning the keeping of pigs and chickens!

I have plenty of strange convents in my deeds

There’s nun in mine.

I’m not allowed nuns. There’s a covenant against that. Businesses not allowed either unless doctors or dentists. Bless the social engineering aspirations of the original Quaker developers. One downside of neighbourhood as a result is no pubs.

There’s nun in mine.

Nicely done Rich. I was wondering where to take that one.

East side of Plymouth then?
As above, get your architect to revise the plans (if necessary) and submit for full planning.

My parents neighbour wanted to extend a dormer but they objected, so neighbours just put in standard dormer at rear. It’s a small road full of detached bungalows, half the houses now have been renovated copying the first one. Each renovation to get more loft space has been raising the roof, to go from a standard 2 bed bungalow to a 4 bed, ie, 2 upstairs, is about 100k. A couple of the bungalows were actually knocked down and a new one built, no idea what that costs but the council tax went up 2 bands.

Whenever a reno is happening all the pensioners are out with measuring tapes in the countdown break, one put in a Juliet balcony which was excluded by planning, the other neighbour dobbed him to the council.

It’s a fair policy or the whole street would have been overdeveloped by now.

Your choices are fairly simple. Either proceed on the understanding that adding a rear dormer will be difficult or pull out of the deal. Only do the later if you can definitely show that the conveyancer has missed the information and it should have been provided, and I’d take legal advice on this, as you’ll need to sue them to recover your deposit.

I very much doubt that this would be classed as solicitors cock up, pretty sure the first reply covers it all, think you’d be on very sticky ground trying to sue solicitor if you backed out of the purchase.

Bear in mind you will need to go through the conveyancing solicitors complaints procedure before you can go to court.

Thanks all. This is a bananas process designed to crush the spirit out of the plebs and allow anyone paid as part of the process to absolve themselves of any and all responsibility.

I’ve checked my correspondence. Solicitor decided not to check 1970s permission “due to the age” and gave me all sorts of good news about adopted highways, gas safety certs and radon. I replied along the lines of “phew. I did have concerns that there could be restrictions on windows overlooking [house with my house at the end of their garden] that would scupper plans for a big rear dormer, as this is what I would want if a house were to be built at the bottom of my garden. “. Henceforth the dream will the know as BRD. Big rear dormer.

And presumably what the planners have suggested as
Planning restricted inferior compromise?
PRIC