Planning Permision?

[Becci]

Hi everyone.

So My husband and I bought our 1st ever caravan a few weeks ago and homed it on our driveway at the front of our house.

The other day I put up the awning so that I could do my painting underneath it when one of my naighbours shouts across that he hopes I have planning permission for "that thing" I simpily stated that its a caravan and I dont need planning permission. However that to me makes sense because I wouldnt need planning perision to park a transit van on my driveway and that would probably be about the same height. However saying this Im a little worried because this guy likes reporting everything he can.

So my question is, am I right? I dont need any special permissions to have this on my driveway do I?

Thanks,

Becci

 

[Chris_Hyde_Cheshire.]

Hi Becci, In most cases I dont think you need planning permission to store your van at home, however it is worth checking your deeds as some new builds have covenants which do restrict this sort of thing. One thing you could try is to have a look on your local councils website too see if you can find anything, or you could ring your local planning department but then you would need to give them your details.....

Hope this helps..........Chris.

 

[Bannedtom]

Hello Becci

You will need to check the deeds to your property and the buiding company may have put a clause to say that you can't havea caravan on the front of your property, It is vital that you understand that it only relates to the "front" of your property. If the caravan is stored behind the building line of the property then the clause/s will not apply, ie if you can park the caravan rearwards of the front line of the house then you cannot be told to remove it.

 

[602]

Hi,

My daughters house (Bletchley) has a restriction preventing anybody from SLEEPING in a caravan parked in front of the building line. I don't know if this is due to a covenant or a Planning Permission.

My house, built 1916, has a covenant preventing me from using it as a tripe shop. And I must have a red roof.

Phone your planning department, ask for a copy of your planning approval - probably cost you

 

[Steve L]

Hi Becci.

Your neighbour is just being a fool (being polite).

The only time you need planning permission for your caravan parked on your own residential property is if you intend to have guests staying in it for more than 28 days in total in any one year. Or if there is a statement on your deeds preventing parking of caravans at your property.

If you fulltime caravan like me, as long as you don't stay on any one site for a whole year you don't need planning permission or need to pay council tax. If you have a seasonal pitch as I do, you also escape the ruling about moving sites after 28 days. To get round that you could pop off for a weekend elsewhere and then return.

All of this info should be freely available from your local council website. They do take a bit of trawling to get to the regulations.

Putting the awning up is no different to errecting a tent.

I guess your neighbour will take a bit of convincing as I've met these types before. They often have green gill syndrome because you can afford to enjoy yourselves with a hobby they don't like. But thats neighbours for you!!

Gotta love um. NOT.

Atb and congrats on joining a very good hobby.

Steve L.

 

[andy72]

We live in a new persimmon homes house and we have ahuge list of covenants for our property. Everything from no fences more than 600mm high to the front gardens, no satelite dishes to front elevations, not allowed to keep livestock, and sure enough, no storage of caravans to frontages of properties. As they only provide a 1m wide path between garage and house theres no way i can store mine in my garden (even though its frustratingly big enough).

 

[Soozeeg]

Your local council may have a byelaw forbidding the keeping of caravans in front gardens, so you could ask them. But have a look around and see whether anyone else in the neighbourhood has a caravan kept at home - even if there is a byelaw or some such, others keeping their vans at home may have set a precedent, especially if they've been there some time.

I should state that you shouldn't take this as gospel though, I think I read it somewhere. Someone else (like Prof John L) may know better.

 

[Mikey1]

Never heard of the planning permission for a caravan,but check your deeds as the set a president will not work ,all that happens is everyone gets affected , takes one to upset the apple cart.

My deeds are woolly as it says not allowed a caravan or shed that is lived in,although a motorhome is ok????

But was told to remove my caravan by the owners of the development

 

[JohnStGeorges]

There is a distinct difference between planning permission and covenant. It is highly unlikely that any council would restrict caravans on driveways. It would have to be done at the original granting of the permission to build.

A covenant can only be enforced by the builder who built the property and placed the covenant on the deeds. Highly unlikely once the development is complete, they take their money and run! I had a similar problem when I was purchasing my house and the advice from my solicitor in the event of any complaint was to tell the complainant to p**s off! There are now three properties in our close who are caravanners.

 

[Mikey1]

Not the case on my development,no sign written vans and no running a business from home,all strictly enforced

 

[MichaelE]

The convenant will cover all the development.

You just need someone new to move in and challenge you and you are stuffed,even if you have done it for years.

Heres the catch if you want to get your convenant changed you need permission of all the development ,126 in my case been there done it and lost.

Not good advice from your Solictor at all?

 

[RayS]

As I understand it, a covenant implies a benefit to others and this is easy to see in a modern estate development e.g. height of fences etc.

however, many older houses also have covenants which have long outlived any benefit they may once have implied e.g. front doors of a certain colour, and it is worth while finding out who was originally supposed to benefit and then assessing whether there is any risk of them or their heirs being able to enforce the covenant.

Covenants seem to be an area most solicitors are none too keen to visit, so it may be worth a check with CAB.

 

[602]

Hi,

How much does it cost to enforce a covenant?

It cost me

 

[jinty0_0]

Hi Becci.

Your neighbour is just being a fool (being polite).

The only time you need planning permission for your caravan parked on your own residential property is if you intend to have guests staying in it for more than 28 days in total in any one year. Or if there is a statement on your deeds preventing parking of caravans at your property.

If you fulltime caravan like me, as long as you don't stay on any one site for a whole year you don't need planning permission or need to pay council tax. If you have a seasonal pitch as I do, you also escape the ruling about moving sites after 28 days. To get round that you could pop off for a weekend elsewhere and then return.

All of this info should be freely available from your local council website. They do take a bit of trawling to get to the regulations.

Putting the awning up is no different to errecting a tent.

I guess your neighbour will take a bit of convincing as I've met these types before. They often have green gill syndrome because you can afford to enjoy yourselves with a hobby they don't like. But thats neighbours for you!!

Gotta love um. NOT.

Atb and congrats on joining a very good hobby.

Steve L.

we are just back from a cc site and we were speaken to a man who has a sesonal there, he says he is retired and loves to spend as much time at caravan as poss for the golf near by but wardens will only let him stay 3 weeks then he needs to remove awning,water bottles, elec cable and all other items around caravan and be off site for 48 hrs. i thought once you had a sesonal you could stay as long as you liked (he has been a sesonal for more than 15yrs)

 

[Becci]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will have a word with my solicitor 1st thing on Monday and ask for a copy of my deeds. The weirdest thing is that alot of people on our street have caravans and my neighbours are good friends with our neighbours across the street who have a caravan twice as big as ours! Bet they never said anything to them though!

 

[602]

Hi,

There is a clause (or was) in the planning regs, that states ....

If you build something, and the council do not make you knock it down for four years, thereafter they cannot make you knock it down.

If you USE your property for 10 years, and the council do not make you stop, thereafter they cannot make you stop.

If you live somewhere for four years, and the council don't tell you to stop living there, thereafter they cannot tell you to stop living there (At least, not on planning grounds). The difficult bit is being inconspicuous for four years, then proving you were living there all along.

The above wording is my interpretation of the Act.

I wonder if Squatter's Rights takes precedence over Covenants?

602

 

[Steve L]

we are just back from a cc site and we were speaken to a man who has a sesonal there, he says he is retired and loves to spend as much time at caravan as poss for the golf near by but wardens will only let him stay 3 weeks then he needs to remove awning,water bottles, elec cable and all other items around caravan and be off site for 48 hrs. i thought once you had a sesonal you could stay as long as you liked (he has been a sesonal for more than 15yrs)

The difference there is, he is stopping on a caravan club site which is specifically for casual camping. The warden/owner is a bit meen as the person could stay 28 days but would have to de-camp for 24 Hrs to comply with planning regs.

Where I stay is a commercial site for 85 static vans & 50 tourers. ew pay a fee for the normal March to end Oct season and a top up to go to the first wk of Jan 11. Because it has formal planning as a static park there is no 28 day rule.

We've never had it so good. Our nieghbours disappear by sunday lunchtime and don't return til friday evening.

Atb Steve L.

 

[Steve L]

Hi Becci.

Once you've established your legal position which I guess as I'm not privi to your deeds will have no covenent and the council are unlikely to have a specific policy for your road. I would have a quiet word with all the other caravan owners in your road. Without naming names so as not to start a neighbour war! this will give you a clue to the general feeling around caravans and doing as you wish on your own property.

Let me guess, has the neighbour doing the moaning recently moved to the road?

That's usually been the case in my neighbour issues. They think they can make their marque by trying to be Mr & Mrs Big!!

Atb Steve L.

 

[DarrylFlynn]

I can also see it from the other side ie someone who does not own a caravan.

I live on a fairly modern, attractively designed estate that does indeed have a covenant preventing storage of caravan on property.

I am delighted that this exists as i think that it would toatally ruin the look of the place just as it has done elsewhere. A caravan parked ( AS SOME DO ) on the front garden right in front of the lounge window is hardly endearing to the neighbours but ask yourself how often you have seen it.

No wonder why in some peoples eyes we are ridiculed and vilified!

I cough up my annual storage fee and everyone, including the neighbours are happy.

Many covenants also stipulate NO BALL GAMES. I am more than happy with this also but could imagine some who conveniently ignore the covenant re caravan storage being furious with youths playing football outside their house in contavention of a rule that they ARE happy with.

Regards Darryl

 

[Rioja]

Was it the caravan or the fact that the awning was up that caused the neighbour to pass comment ? How long was the awning up for ?

If you were just trying it for size then that's quite reasonable but if it was for a long time I can understand their comments.