£313m wasted on unapproved home 'improvements'
Thursday, 23 Feb 2006 16:41
Britons are wasting £313m on building work without planning permission
UK homeowners wasted £313 million on building projects that did not have planning permission last year, a new report finds.
Building projects without planning permission are likely to run into problems, with councils ultimately able to order unplanned projects to be torn down.
And while this ultimate sanction is rarely used, a lack of planning permission led to delays and cancellations costing thousands of homeowners an average of £10,441 a time, research from Direct Line Home Insurance reveals.
However, one homeowner in five is unaware that they are responsible for gaining planning permission.
"The extent of unapproved building work is extremely concerning, as are the number of homeowners who appear to be unaware of the rules," said Simon Ziviani, Direct Line Home spokesperson.
"Not obtaining planning permission or ensuring that building regulations are complied with may make a property unsaleable and, more seriously, structurally unsound."
And unplanned building projects are becoming more common, with ten per cent more breaches in planning permission reported in 2005 than in 2004.
The Direct Line research finds that 3.5 million Britons have moved into a new home to discover unsound or unapproved work, with one in five discovering their loft conversions were not approved and five per cent finding unapproved garages or carports.
"We would advise all homeowners to make sure they are aware of the legal requirements before undertaking any building work," said Mr Ziviani.
"We would further advise new homeowners who discover that unapproved building work has been carried out to seek legal advice as they may be entitled to request sellers to seek retrospective planning permission or to correct unapproved works."
Top tips to avoid planning pitfalls
Discuss everything first – make sure you talk to your neighbours and local council early to avoid complications once works have begun.
Make sure you have a professional draw up proper plans and have them approved by a building engineer if structural.
Plan your budget – don’t take the risk of trying to guess the cost yourself. A good move is to ask an estimator to do this for you, such as www.estimators-online.com. You can then work to an appropriate budget.
Contingency fund – make sure you leave yourself savings in case the building work goes over budget. Ten to 15 per cent of the original estimate for the building work is the recommended amount.
Your responsibility – remember it is best to sort our planning permission yourself. Don’t let builders tell you what does and doesn’t need planning permission.
Finally, make sure you remember to review your home insurance as renovations and additions may increase the value of your property.