Forum Topic

Planning strategy....is there one?

Anyone know what the rules are regarding converting houses into flats?It seems every time, even the smallest house is sold in Poets corner it is converted to flats. It means more pressure on parking, a reduction in family homes stock, and usually more rented accommodation where tenants don't care about the property.Are residents supposed to be informed if a conversion has been applied for?

Mark Jarvis ● 5339d9 Comments

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/flats#Iwanttoconvertahouseorsingleflattoanumberofflatsbed-sitsorotherformofsubdivision.Sub-standard conversions ie lack of sound insulation between dwellings, fire insulation between dwellings and all sorts of unregulated building and lack of amenity can mean that the property is not safe and will have constantly changing inhabitants.Don't ever expect that planning persmission/building regulation has been applied for, given OR is being adhered to.  If you care about where you live you have to take an active interest in what is happening around you.

Philippa Bond ● 5338d

Also be aware of Delegated Powers.  I always understood that this was supposed to be used when there was nothing controversial about a decision.  It seems now to be used when it is the opposite.

Philippa Bond ● 5322d

Sadly the council don’t care.  We objected to a conversion in across the road from us (we were sent a letter so people in the immediate vicinity should get informed I think) but it was approved by delegation.  We complained but the council didn’t seem to think that two flats would add any more pressure on parking than a four bed house (?!?) and said that policy was to get more units, not maintain family house numbers…. Ironically for the situation in the original post the person who bought the house and converted it to rent out/sell on lives in poets corner…We currently live in a conversion ourselves and would eventually love to move into a house in Acton as the family grows, but with the pressure that council policy is putting on the available stock of family houses I don’t think there will be anyway near as many left by then, especially in our price range (as a result of the limited supply pushing prices up even more and the drift of people in from Chiswick and Ealing as they find they can’t afford houses there…..)

Richard Wells ● 5322d

If the house is in a CPZ my understanding is that a legal agreement has to be signed prior to grant of planning permission prohibiting residents from any additional dwelling, from holding a CPZ permit. This caused a developer in my road a real problem as he applied for retrospective planning after converting the house and for legal reasons such an agreement could not be imposed so he was refused planning and lost on appeal to the planning inspectorate......

Iain Muir ● 5322d

To answer the question, 'Is there a Strategy'..... Err Yes, 'The Unitary Development Plan', but this is in the course of being replaced by 'The Local Development Framework'. This was assessed by the Planning Inspectorate at a Public Enquiry late last year and subject to ammendment should be agreed this year. You can view the draft LDF on the LBE website. It has been complicated as when Ken was Mayor of London a version of the London Plan was drafted but when Boris was elected this was significantly changed. As the London plan affects local borough LDF's the Ealing LDF also had to be changed..... All very complicated......

Iain Muir ● 5322d

"This caused a developer in my road a real problem as he applied for retrospective planning after converting the house and for legal reasons such an agreement could not be imposed so he was refused planning and lost on appeal to the planning inspectorate......"And did he convert the flats back to a house?  Was there any enforcement?

Sarah Harris ● 5321d

Actually on checking LBE did not refuse, they failed to decide on the application within the set timescale so the applicant appealed. LBE would have been happy to grant pp for the conversion if they could impose the s106 'no CPZ' condition. (Its a good size house and the conversion is mainly to standard with Building Regs etc. Other houses have been converted with planning) However the inspector ruled that this was not technically possible. See http://www.pam.ealing.gov.uk/PlanNet/documentstore/DC1117692-13-1_AF_A.PDF.I am not aware of any enforcement and the house shows as having two flats with two Unique Property Ref No's.... I think the main impact is that the owner will be unlikely to sell the units at their true value without planning. I think they are both rented. The moral is always apply for planning first, especially if the property is within a CPZ!

Iain Muir ● 5321d

A word of warning - there is a surplus of flats in Acton - and a lack of family houses, so it would perhaps be foolish to consider converting a family house into flats at this moment in time.  Doesn't make good business sense.

Dee Cook ● 5321d

Friends abroad have split their home to make a separate flat for their children. The idea being when they can no longer live there their children can change it back to one building again. Whether they will or not remains to be seen.

Philippa Bond ● 5319d