Planning Laws

[The Way]

Hi

I have recently been informed about the most rediculous planning legistlation I have ever heard, infact it is completely unbeleviable:P

Manchester City Councils planning department officials recently informed me that if the they were to take out enforcement action against the developer who built my home, because they (the developer) have seriously breached planning permission, that I as the occupier/home owner would also be prosecuted and could face a fine of £20,000.

However what the department failed to say is that also applies to the Landowner, which in this case is.......Manchester City Council :angry:

Talk about the developers being above the law, the laws written to protect them

Can somone please clarify if this is true and if the developer can walk away scot free?

Regards

Gary

[Colin Jack]

The Way,

I does sound unbelievable doesn't it. Falkirk Council said the same to me about the problems with my house.

Developers are NOT above the law. They only flaunt it to suit their own selfish gain happy in the knowledge that the average person in the street doesn't know the law at all.

If you read the relevant legislation, as an example in Scotland it is the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 for building works, you will find a get out clause which the developer and everyone involved with them will steer you well clear of.

In the Building (Scotland) Act 2003 it is the following clause:

8 (5) In any proceedings against a person referred to in subsection (3)(b) or (c) for an offence under subsection (2)(b), it is a defence for the accused to show that at the time of the alleged commission of the offence the accused did not know, and had no reasonable cause to know, that the work was being carried out or the conversion made otherwise than in accordance with the warrant.

In other words if you didn't know there was a breach in the regulations, you have a defence. But then you have to prove you didn't know - guilty until you prove your innocence. Sad but true. This is what the developers rely on.

What you also need to remember is that there are only 2 parties who can be guilty of an offence under such legislation – in this example the person who commissions the works and the person who builds the works. The local authority is the adviser, regulator, whatever, and the NHBC are just an insurance company, nothing more. So it is just you and the builder. People need to understand this. The developers, and the NHBC for that matter, are both out to remove your legal rights. Be very aware of this.

I have said this time and time again – developers will be very quick to get you to agree to some of the more serious snagging works and their proposed solutions. As soon as you agree and as soon as the first brick is knocked out or the first shovel is put into the ground – you have lost all your legal rights – the developer can walk away without a care in the world because you agreed and you allowed the works to go ahead (I speak from personal experience). It is all down to you. The local authority, the NHBC and any other worthies have nothing to do with it. Everything about new builds is designed to remove what little rights you have as soon as possible to allow the developer to get away with your money as soon as possible.

I hope someone will prove me wrong, but no-one has in 4 years.

Know the legislation and know your rights because the developer will stop at nothing to take them all away as soon as you sign on the dotted line. You will get bullied, you will be ignored, you will be passed from pillar to post, you will be told you know nothing, you will be accused of holding them back, you will be accused of frustrating their progress and much more. This website is proof of this vile fact.

The Scottish Executive summed it up-

3. The Ombudsman feels it is absolutely essential for individuals to obtain proper independent professional advice, since the temptation to take short cuts and minimise costs can prove extremely expensive in the longer term. The many complaints received were linked by a common thread that each had relied on the fact that the local authority had issued a building warrant and completion certificate and believed that these provided a guarantee of standard of workmanship.

Get proper independent professional advice. You won’t get it from the developer or the NHBC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The Way]

Hi Jack

firstly thanks for the info.....really useful indeed.

Do you know of the relevant legislation for England?

The good thing is that we did not have any prior knowledge of the planning laws being broken as did none of my neighbours, the complicated thing about this is that the area where I live is under major regeneration and the developer was given the land for an almost nil fee, then it passed back to Manchester City Council, with large amounts of public money being invested.

MCC and New East Manchester Ltd commissioned the developer in a major contractual agreement to build sustainable affordable homes, for new and exisiting residents.

What the planning department failed to inform us of (apart from the no prior knoweledge thing) is that the landowner would also be liable for prosecution if enforcement was to be taken out, which leaves me very confused in that effectively the City Council could end up prosectuing itself!!!!!!!!!!!


Anyone else got anything further to add....

Many thanks Jack, this has been a great help!!!

Regards

Gary

[Colin Jack]

Gary,

Unfortunately I am not well versed with the appropriate legislation in England. But for a small fee....

This all sounds like a classic local authority cock up, it happens all the time. I remember one local authority who sold off a large plot of land for a few thousand pounds then bought it back about one year later for many hundreds of thousands. A complacent local authority is a developer’s best friend as you can see, but a local authority that is on the ball is a developer’s worst nightmare.

As long as you can prove beyond reasonable doubt that you were not aware of or had no reasonable cause to be aware of any laws or regulations being breached, you should be fine. If you were not the landowner at the time of the breach, again you should be fine.

It may be that once this situation has been thought about, the City Council will go very quiet. It wouldn't be the first time.

If you have any doubts about anything to do with this fiasco, please seek independent legal advice.

Colin.