So about 18 months my family and I ( 7 of us ) through no fault of our own were put into emerngency housing we were housed in a 3 ( read 2.5 ) bed as a temporary solution until a larger house was found. At the time I asked if it was ok to build a temporary shed next to the house ( well I’m pretty sure I asked ). I built in such a way that it could be dismantled in sections although I didn’t quite finish the cladding or felt the roof. When I was building it I could hear the ( old, been there for years ) neighbors commenting ( for me to hear ) what’s he building it there for etc..Any way long story short after living out of boxes for 6 months we decided to ask if we could stay put to which the council said yes. The other week the old lady next door was outside and I cheerily said hello and asked how her and her husband are. to which she replied my husband is in ICU ( dont know why ) and when am I taking the shed down. She said her husband doesn’t like seeing it as it is an eyesore when they are in their front room. And it’ll have their fence down.
I explained to her that the shed isn’t attached to ‘their’ fence to which she replied oh, can you put a guttering on it then. Which of course I can.
The shed measure approx. 2m wide, 3m long 2.4m high and slopes back toward their 6 foot fence. the side of the shed is higher than their fence by about 4inches.

Last week I phoned the council and they have said to write a letter asking for retrospective permission giving dimensions, location and details of the base structure as well as cladding etc.

This week I get a phone call asking why haven’t I written a letter as they are still receiving complaints and that will need to inspect it.

I don’t understand it. Why don’t the neighbours just let us get on with our lives. He has 4 sheds in his garden ( 2 of which I can see from our dining table in the kitchen ) and a green-house with a white sheet thrown over it which i can see also. He has fires in his garden when he likes whether we have washing on the line or not. I don’t care whether he likes us or not the same as I don’t care whether we get on or not although getting on is the easier option. Does he have more rights to impact our lives as we do to his??

maybe someone has been in a sililar situation and can help with some wording, advice etc.

Rant over.

I forgot to mention that the idea of putting the shed next to the house was to store our bikes and I have a lot of expensive tools.

Just apply and see what happens
I assume this is a council rule as temporary structures [ ie no foundations] are not covered by planning iirc

There is no limit to the hypocrisy of folk considering his shed fetish

Pictures of the offending shed?

Do they have a chimney on their house ?

Sheds are covered by planning permission so that may be an issue. Size wise it would fall under permitted development but from you description it sounds like it may be in the front garden which would need planning.

The shed is at the side of the house behind a fence. I’ll have a look to see whether they have a chimney but he lights his fires in the garden.
Pics up by the end of the night..

It sounds, from your description, like it might be unfinished.

And possibly due to not being finished, it’s not the best looking shed in the world ?

Could that be the problem.

If its at the side of the house, then it should fall within the realms of permitted development

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk//uploads/100806_PDforhouseholders_TechnicalGuidance.pdf

I don’t understand it. Why don’t the neighbours just let us get on with our lives.

Kiddding right? You are suprised at other people moaning and interfering?

Just get on an write (email will do) to council, be very nice and helpful they just need to be seen to be doing the right things and considering the complaints before rejecting them.

Ideally ask housing officer to come over and see the sheds in other gardens etc.

Is his name Arthur Jackson?

Shed pics

That’s a lot bigger than I expected

What does your landlord say?

That’s an ugly big shed to be fair.

maybe the perspective is wrtong. don’t confuse the front fence as being part of the shed. the shed is only 2.8 or 3meters long

I’m a fussy bugger but given the height of the fence I don’t think that would bother me.

Does your fence have a window in it ??

Looks pretty big to me.. maybe take the basketball hoop off the shed and put it next to the sky dish

Deceiving photo; I thought the large brown structure behind the shrubbery was the shed, because there’s what looks like a window in it, then a zoom in shows just the sloping roof showing over the top. Couldn’t you drop the high side of the roof slightly, making it level? It would be almost invisible behind the fence then.
I honestly can’t see an issue with the shed, though, it’s just not obtrusive.

The fence looks way more intrusive than the shed.

Go through the process, hopefully you’ll be able to keep it that way.

Do you know anywhere that’s selling huge glow in the dark father christmases?
Put one on the roof, all year.

Put a lower angle to the roof as looks a bit fierce in angle
At least you know who wont be on the Christmas card list !

Mmmm…neon Father Christmases..

I can’t imagine that they would rather see a house wall. If you ask me it’s a miniature power thing.

shed looks like a bit of a shanty, maybe tidy it all up so it looks less cobbled together?

I have not a lot to add other than commiserations, we had a dispute over all sorts with a frankly bonkers neighbour.
Get applying to the council, get the shed finished, and just try to be as helpful to council as possible.

The shed’s at the back you can hardly see it for the fence, shrubs, and the wall.

Ask if someone from the council can come around and have a look to give you some guidance they might just say carry on.

And I’d definitely get some guttering up to prevent the water running off into the next door neighbours garden.

Is the highest point of the shed definitely 2.4 metres…not slightly higher than 2.5 metres? If so, I think you need planning permission.

The area of the she’s also needs to be less than a certain percentage of the property taking into account the area of the house. Can’t remember the dimensions/percentages; look up shed planning permission on the internet.

Although all that might have changed with the new planning laws.

As an aside, from the restricted view of the shed in the photos…it does not look like the prettiest, perhaps it’ll look better once it’s finished.

She may just be overly shirty because her hubby is unwell/in hospital and she feels she has to run the show in his absence.

Be as perfect a neighbour as you can, sort the guttering and get the planning guys around to check that permission is required for the structure, it may not be.

it was confusing at first looking at the picture as the fence makes it look big and ugly but the sheds behind. Does the fence have a window in it?

People dont like change especially if they’ve been there a long time and you guys are newcomers. plus they’ll be stressed if hes poorly. If youre going to be there a while, swallow pride and do the gutter thing for them, apologise to them and make small talk and even be over friendly even if they aren’t. Then get the council to confirm all is good and if it is indeed fine then maybe a frank chat about why they are pished off will help, just be nice, break down the barriers if you can…

… I admit I had a dispute with a neighbour over parking where I used to live and it got nasty, she’d cover my car in eggs and I even caught her about to scratch my car one night, or do something like break the window. she kept leaving me notes under the wipers… basically it got past the point of bothering to be nice. But it adds to the stress of living somewhere, avoid if you can.

Go through the retrospective application process – which will be a bit of a chore, but worth it – and get permission. The planning portal above is really helpful as is (I’ve found) a call with a planning officer, which it sounds like you’ve already had.

The council bods sound like they just need the paperwork (retrospective application) to stamp, and then they can move on and get on with the next job.

It also sounds like your neighbour is having a fairly rough time of it herself, which is probably why she’s being a bit of a so-and-so. Maybe see if you / your family can do anything to help out and be good neighbours. She’ll probably still be cantankerous, but less so to you. HTH

What’s with the big yellow triangle sign on his fence?

According to ninfan’s link it is permitted if the height is less than 2.5m.
If it is under 2.5m (or you can make it so) then I would try to get the council to accept that it is permitted and no planning application is necessary.
If you go down the retrospective application route there is a financial cost to you and if people object you may be required to remove the shed even though it is technically permitted.

If it’s rented from the council there may be additional restrictions in the tenancy agreement about erection of outbuildings so it may not all be about just what the law says?

When I was a landlord I’d have wanted at least a courtesy letter from a tenant sayign ‘I’m building this’ so I coudl understand if there was any additional liability for me as a result?

Doesn’t look like it would need planning so I suspect the council just need to give you permission as they are the owner/landlord. I’d just write and tell them why you need the space, maybe add a couple of pictures that show it doesn’t stick out, also add that you have chatted to the neighbour and that she has asked you to add some guttering which you will do/have done to show you are having a dialogue and they are sort of accepting it.

You do have landlords permission to have built this don’t you?
TBH if a brand new neighbour built something like that without having the common courtesy to speak to me first I’d be less than happy about it as well.

It shouldn’t need Planning Permission because it doesn’t look like its over 2.5m. However it is on the boundary with your neighbour.

From a building reg perspecitve they don’t like combustable structures within a certain distance from the property – I think it is a metre or two – you’d need to check.

I’d ask the Planners on what basis it needs planning permission as you believed it to be compliant with your rights of permitted development.

I can see why the neighbor wants guttering put on it 😉

Councils can be funny things to deal with, try and please your neighbor if possible.

It does not look that bad?

I don’t have a problem putting guttering on it as that was always my intention. Looks like I’m gonna be doing it by hanging off the roof. I don’t think the neighbor’s going to let me do it from his side..

It is within the permissible build rules even though it’s within 2 meters of the boundry it doesn’t exceed 2.5 meters in height as I knew the regs before starting the build. It’s the council ( landlord ) saying I should of had permission to build it to which I have submitted per email today. let’s see what happens.

The neighbors yellow sign says beware patroling dogs or something like that. ( He doesn’t have any dogs ).