Man who built two-storey house on driveway ordered to pull it down by council

A homeowner who built a house on their driveway despite only getting permission for a garage has been ordered to tear it down.

The property on Vaughton Street, Birmingham, had an application approved for a single-storey, 5.3m x 4.6m garage back in 2019.

However, when it actually came to building it, they ditched the plans and erected a two-storey house instead.

After discovering what had happened, the local council demanded that the homeowner pull it down.

And following an appeal, the resident was given a July deadline to do so.

Speaking about the planning row, a neighbour said: "We just assumed they had permission to do that in the first place.

"I think they built it for an elderly relative who appears to come in and out of there quite frequently.

"You're never happy to see extensions or new-builds going up blocking out sunlight or replacing gardens and trees but it's just what people do.

SWNS

"But if it was only given permission to be a garage I cannot see how they thought they would ever get away with it. It's clearly a house.

"How on earth they were planning to pass that off as [a] garage, God only knows."

Writing in his report back in March, planning inspector Thomas Shields said the owner had claimed there were only 'minor differences' between the complete building and the original plans.

"The appellant’s case is that the building already benefits from planning permission granted by the council in 2019," he noted.

"He argues that although there are differences between the approved plans for the garage and the appeal building they are minor differences.

"The approved plans for the garage show a single storey detached garage with a footprint of 5.3m x 4.6m and a height of 3.6m.

"It was also shown having a standard garage door to the front and no windows on any elevation.

SWNS

"In comparison with the approved garage the appeal building has a footprint of approximately 8.7m x 4.7m and a height of 5.3m

"Consequently, it is substantially larger than the approved building. It is not a minor difference."

He went on: "Since the appeal building bears little resemblance to the scale and design of the approved single-storey garage, it does not benefit from that planning permission.

"The requirements of the notice are: demolish the entire unauthorised detached structure and remove all demolished building materials and rubble from the premises."

Responding to the case, a spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: "We served an EN (enforcement notice) for the demolition of the unauthorised structure when the owner lost at appeal.

"We are in discussions with the owner re timeline. Compliance with the notice was due by July 1, 2022."