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[mjltigger]

Hi,

I today received a letter from my local planning officer who advises that the erection of a small shed outside of the curtilage of my dwelling and on unregistered land should have had planning permission.

I had a nice chat with him over the phone and he was incredibly pragmatic and helpful but of course is towing the line that planning permission for change of use is required.

I appreciate this is a difficult and complex subject but any advice you can give is eagerly sought.

The piece of land in question is immediately outside my fence. It forms part of a shared drive which is unregistered but over which I have full and unrestricted use (as do at least one of my neighbours)

When I moved in 3 1/2 years ago, the previous occupants had been keeping their wheely bins there and had planted the remaining space with prickly thorny bushes as a method of preventing parking by people who may or may not have had anything to do with either our property or the neighbours property. The small plastic shed I put there does not intrude particularly further than those bins (it is an off the shelf bin shed in fact that I am using to store hosepipes and the like in) and replaced the out of control thorny bushes that were (in my view) an eyesore and a health and safety issue.

It seems that this is not permitted development purely because the land is outside of my curtilage however, my view is that the storage of wheely bins would make it actually be part of my curtilage and therefore the small shed is permitted development (in the same way as the wendy house the other side of the fence is permitted)

I have not put this to the planning officer yet as I want to be sure of my grounds. Do any readers have experience or knowledge that helps me with this conversation.

By the way, the planning officer was confident that a planning permission application would be granted but the fee would be £385 (as it is for change of use) and the other costs (advertising to allow the owner to come forward and the creation of plans) are unknown (but I suspect not minor)

[oconnope]

Hi,
It sounds as if the planner is correct. There is no legal definition of curtilage, but land falling outside the boundary of your property which appears to be 'shared' would not be considered to be within the curtilage of your dwelling.
It sounds as if the Council is unlikely to take enforcement action - so if you leave it 4 years the shed will become lawful and the Council won't be in a position to remove it.
All the best.

[mjltigger]

Hi,
It sounds as if the planner is correct. There is no legal definition of curtilage, but land falling outside the boundary of your property which appears to be 'shared' would not be considered to be within the curtilage of your dwelling.
It sounds as if the Council is unlikely to take enforcement action - so if you leave it 4 years the shed will become lawful and the Council won't be in a position to remove it.
All the best.

thank you

We have removed the shed now as we needed the planning team to be supportive of some other works.