‘I spent £180k on garden flat I now have to tear down'

Telegraph

4 hours ago

An IT engineer has been ordered to tear down a £180,000 bungalow he built in his garden without planning permission.
Mark Jones, 55, replaced an old garage in his back garden with a two-bedroom 'granny flat' and hooked up the electricity, water and internet to his house in March 2019.
The 83-square-metre annex, featuring a kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom and storeroom, was completed six months later.
He did not apply for planning permission, believing it was legal owing to its size and the utilities being connected to the main house.
Mr Jones hoped his ill father Tony, 71, would move into the property in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, but he died of bowel cancer months later so it was used by his grown-up daughter and her boyfriend during the Covid lockdowns.
But after three neighbours complained, claiming it was 'over intensive', Birmingham city council ordered him to tear it down in 2021.
Mr Jones said he believed the building complied with planning laws and lodged a retrospective planning application. The plan was rejected and, despite making a second application, he was told the property broke planning regulations.
He has been ordered to demolish the bungalow by the end of the month or face possible further legal action.
Mr Jones, who moved into the building after he and his wife divorced, said he will be homeless if he is forced to demolish the building.
The father-of-two said: 'The bungalow was within the permitted development rights and could have habitable rooms. It was meant for my father and reliant on the main house.'
He said because several nearby properties had two-storey buildings in their gardens 'I thought it was fine' and saw his original £60,000 plans double after adding in a kitchen.
Mr Jones completed the inside and appealed to the planning inspectorate after being warned he needed planning permission.
But in February 2021 the inspector refused and said the bungalow was 'alien' to the area.
Mr Jones said: 'There is no public interest in taking the bungalow down, so I don't know why they're making me. You look at other houses on the street and I can't see why we wouldn't get permission for it.
'It was never meant to be a separate building, it was supposed to be part of the main house. It doesn't have its own water, internet, council tax or waste.
'It is still part of the main house. I should've waited for planning permission but people can see why I haven't. I was in a hurry to get my dad moved in.'
Accusing the council of 'bullying' him, he used Google maps to investigate his neighbour's gardens and 'thought it was safe'.
'Loads of people have done this. If I tear it down I've got nowhere else to go so I'll probably be on the streets. To me the council is bullying me.'
Mr Jones has applied for a new permitted development certificate application with the council.
Even if it is granted, he will still have to tear down the original bungalow and build it again to comply with the council's rules.
A spokesman for Birmingham city council said: 'Mr Jones is currently in breach of the enforcement notice that was served to him in 2021, and we have given him ample time to comply with the notice by the end of June 2025.
'A decision will be made imminently on the lawful development certificate that Mr Jones has submitted, and a case officer will then be in contact with him to advise further.'