Shed Positioning

[kantryla]

I completed the build of my house last year and had permitted rights removed.  I have now applied for planning permission for a shed - its quite large 9mx3m but we have no garage so need somewhere to store stuff.  We're a house in the countryside.  I'd positioned the shed against a hedge 8.5m from the house and 1m away from the boundary (as per planing regs) to make a useable space in front for raised beds etc.  It looks like my planning is going to be refused.  I am told that the maximum distance from the house is 5m.  If I do this I am going to have a pretty unusable space behind the shed between it and the hedge.  I never went for pre-app as 'its just a shed'.      What's really annoying is that the planners were supposed to deliver their decision tomorrow, and they called me today at 3pm informing me of this, there's been no objections from neighbours or parish council.   Is this right - I cannot find anything anywhere that stipulates sheds must be within 5m of the house?    If the rule is correct It seems a little ludicrous to me(but thats me ranting now !!!)

[ProDave]

Let it be refused and appeal.

[joe90]

21 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Let it be refused and appeal.

+1, I appealed my planning refusal and found the process easier and more pragmatic than dealing with planners!!!

[DevilDamo]

Are they implying if you were to re-locate it to within 5m, there’s a chance if it being approved?

[kantryla]

1 hour ago, DevilDamo said:

Are they implying if you were to re-locate it to within 5m, there’s a chance if it being approved?

Yes that was the implication but it leaves a space behind the shed which is just dead space.  

[DevilDamo]

Depends if you do want to Appeal which can take around 6mths and with the possibility of it being dismissed. Or accept the re-location and seek approval for something.

 

Where is this 5m rule/policy mentioned in your LPA’s guidance?

[ProDave]

I would say to your planning officer, show me where it says 5M in your guidance or I will let you refuse it and I will appeal.

[ToughButterCup]

Nowhere in the regulations does it say that the shed should be within 5 m of the house . Did they explain the reasoning  for that statement?

[joe90]

There can be local “rules” to your area but challengeable yes get your planners to define “where” it says the 5m rule (sounds stupid to me).

[BigBub]

I don't think there is a 5m rule. It is most likely that having it within 5m of the house would mean that the shed is 2m+ from the rear boundary which is what the planning officer wants.

[kandgmitchell]

With the new house being in the open countryside it may be the planners want to keep "domestic clutter" such as sheds etc close to the house so as to reduce the impact on openness. In AONB, National Parks etc there is a general rule that PD outbuildings cannot be more than 20m from the house if the total floor area exceeds 10m2 for a similar reason. The condition on your approval removing PD rights would have a reason attached to it - that may give you a lead on the planners thoughts.

 

It's a difficult one. Do you move the shed position and get on with things or take the refusal and appeal with all the delay that entails and no guarantee of success - Inspectors do agree with Councils quite a lot you know (roughly 70% of the time). I'd go back to the planners and get a clearer understanding of where they are coming from and look to get a compromise - additional planting to shield the shed, a change in colour, offer to let them condition that in any approval. If they are not willing to play ball, it'll come down to how soon you want that shed I'm afraid.

[joe90]

29 minutes ago, kandgmitchell said:

Inspectors do agree with Councils quite a lot you know (roughly 70% of the time)

I would be interested where that figure came from, my appeal slated the council for not abiding by their own rules!! And even the planner told me I would probably win on appeal 🤷‍♂️

[kandgmitchell]

57 minutes ago, joe90 said:

would be interested where that figure came from, my appeal slated the council for not abiding by their own rules!! And even the planner told me I would probably win on appeal 🤷‍♂️

 

From the Planing Inspectorates own statistics. From 2019 there have never been more than 30% successful appeals overall and for the written representations approach (for most domestic stuff) success rate hovers between 25% and 28%. You'd be better off with a public enquiry where success rate was 66% in Jan-March 2023 but that may be a bit much for a shed!

[Alan Ambrose]

Also, my little analysis of a bunch of appeals suggested they were as arbitrary as standard planning decisions:

 

 

See also this re stats:

 

 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

p.s. some up-to-date stats (no I don't have any connection, and they're more accessible than the .gov stats):

 

https://appealfinder.co.uk/Planning-appeal-success-rates-and-timescales.n48.html

 

https://appealfinder.co.uk/Your-LPA's-performance-on-planning-appeals.n71.html

 

https://appealfinder.co.uk/Local-planning-authority-success-rates.p19.html