Do i need a Planning Permission working from home?

[Cypriot]

Hi There,
I have start a business working from home with a 10 carpark space inside the property so no problem about that,
The business is marketting so nothing to sell no deliveries no causing problem for traffic.

so we have started working with Job center giving us 1month free chance to have people on benefit to train them and give them opportunity if they can do it and if they can we will give them job working with us from home.

currently we are using the livingroom accomodating 16 staff capacity. but we start 10 so far testing etc...

yesterday we had visit from the planning department and end of it all we have to have planning permission they saying .... where do we stand with this ? do we have to apply for planning permission ?

 

[LTK82]

If the planning department say you need planning permission then that is probably quite sound advice.

One of the main issues is parking. Although you have the space business use can be quite different to domestic use and with more coming and going the effect on traffic can be greater.

 

[Cypriot]

Before starting from home we had advice from the government business link :-
www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1073791627&r.i=1075375360&r.l1=1086951342&r.l2=1073859248&r.l3=1073960216&r.s=sc&r.t=CASE

I understood after reading this that there was no need for planning permission, as only two staff have cars and ours, and we have parking for at least 10 cars inside our boundary , there's no structural changes, and we live here.. 9 - 5 working so no unreasonable hours, most of staff walk in.. Our work is all internet based, so there are no callers.. I just can't understand the need for planning..

 

[LTK82]

Sounds like to you need a professional advice on this. In the first instance why not get the planning department to bullet point their reasons for you requiring planning permission. It will let you know where you stand (in their eyes) and will also make them think twice and ensure that they're are sure of their need for planning permission.

Could save both you and the planning department time, effort and money.

 

[Cypriot]

Thanks so much for that. . . . I've already sent them a sort of - dissertation as to why we think we don't need it, so if they were to bullet point, then we could answer each point.. Thank you so much Sir, we really appreciate you kind help

 

[LTK82]

Thanks so much for that. . . . I've already sent them a sort of - dissertation as to why we think we don't need it, so if they were to bullet point, then we could answer each point.. Thank you so much Sir, we really appreciate you kind help

Good luck with it!

 

[Moneyman]

Normally they dont wake up for several months after you start. I wonder what tipped them off?
It is just another local busybody trying to keep the business world tied up.
Phone the council. this is employment etc they normally have loads of space you can use. otherwise try a serviced office or contact a local comercial estate agent who often have a few clients with a few hundred square foot they will let out very cheaply on a rolling licence.
I just hate this sort of thing.

 

[wispafish]

And remember when ever discussing things with the planning department remember to get everything they say in writing as they can often change there mind further down the line.

 

[Cypriot]

thanks for your remarks, yes yr right it was a local busybody, a new member of staff parked outside his house for 3 minutes whilst coming to check if they were in the right place before driving in, and he called the council to ask if they knew we were employing people. We did notify the council, and are on for Business council tax since middle of last year, we also asked them did we need to do anything else and they assured us that was all that was needed.... oh!!!

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Did you notify your home insurers and mortgage company?
You may also need to consider extra toilets and have a fire escape plan,this could be why the planners want to be involved.

 

[crphillips]

Someone has grassed you up by the sounds of it. We had the same years ago. Unfortunately if running a business from home then the property needs to go through a change of use from residential to business.

If the business was very small you possibly wouldn't need to change the use of the building but having 16 staff coming and going is not what they'd class as normal traffic for a residential building.

Get a good planning consultant involved as council planners like to think they're invincible and a lot of the stuff they ask you to do isn't enforceable. A decent planning consultant will know how the system works and will put them back in their place and negotiate for you.

 

[Cypriot]

yes all that's done, fire exits, we've had a fire safety check, gas safety check and elec and all certificated, business insurance, installed elec fire alarms and elec torches for emergencies in the hallway. We are thinking of installing more toilets, but that's once we get past this hurdle. What has been hard is that after phoning to notify the council regarding business council tax and having the valuation office out twice now to measure and evaluate etc., that they didn't let us know that planning might be needed although we asked each time we called if we needed to do anything else or speak to anyone else in the council and we were told without any shadow of doubt no. That's why the person from the planning just calling was a shock, when we'd done everything by the book.

 

[Cypriot]

Hi there thanks for your advice. Yes a neighbour called the council when a new member of staff parked for few mins outside their house whilst checking our address. I was told they'd phoned and asked did the council know we were employing people. We knew they'd got irate at this lady, and wern't bothered cos we've done everything and installed what the fire safety recommended etc., so never realised there was anything else to do.. We're not 16 here, {we could be 16 futuristically, that would be after new toilets etc} there are 10 of us and out of that ten two of us live here, out of the 8 only two have cars and we have parking for 9 or 10 cars inside. The planning said we need planning permission to change from residential to part residential and part business. I've never heard of a planning consultant before. I thought whatever the council planning would say would be final??

Someone has grassed you up by the sounds of it. We had the same years ago. Unfortunately if running a business from home then the property needs to go through a change of use from residential to business.

If the business was very small you possibly wouldn't need to change the use of the building but having 16 staff coming and going is not what they'd class as normal traffic for a residential building.

Get a good planning consultant involved as council planners like to think they're invincible and a lot of the stuff they ask you to do isn't enforceable. A decent planning consultant will know how the system works and will put them back in their place and negotiate for you.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

You will need to deal with your planning department.
No-one on this forum will be able to speak on their behalf.

 

[crphillips]

We got a planning consultant involved. Mainly because i knew him and he's like a pitbull. He used to work in the planning dept for the council so he knew the types he was working with and how it all worked.

What the planning debt say isn't final at all. Don't take that approach. It's about negotiating and if you don't know your stuff they'll walk all over you.

The council were trying to get us to change to business use, they wanted rid of a skip we had around the back and all sorts of things. When we got the planning consultant involved he negotiated on our behalf and basically we had to change nothing. It cost us approx £500.

 

[crphillips]

You will need to deal with your planning department.
No-one on this forum will be able to speak on their behalf.

A planning consultant can speak on your behalf and mine was worth every penny. I wouldn't talk to them myself.

 

[Estimator]

You are changing the building from residential to office use, so you need something called 'change of use' permission through the planning dept. They will no doubt check fire escapes, alarms, WCs, parking etc is adequate.
They will also advertise your application (retrospective) so that neighbours know about it and can have their say.
I think that is a very fair system and can't really understand some of the posters talking of 'busybodies' 'grassing up' etc.

 

[Cypriot]

thanks Mr Phillips for your advice. I think we will have to change from residential to part residential and part office. We have done all our checks and are right on everything before we knew about planning consent. We're also registered for the last year for business council tax. To the other gentleman that thinks taking neighbours views is good, I agree to an extent, but when they're not very pleasant and complaining about nothing, then it's not easy to face their onslought. We have more than enough parking inside for at least 9/10 cars, but as none of us has helicopter pads, we're all dependent on the road outside to reach our properties.

 

[Estimator]

I don't know how close your neighbours house is but I don't see it as complaining about nothing. The potential to have 10 cars coming in the morning and leaving in the evening is an inconvenience. One that they did not expect when they purchased a house in a quiet residential area, which is now a busy place of work.

 

[Cypriot]

thank you estimator, if you'd read an earlier post I'd written " there are 10 of us and out of that ten two of us live here, out of the 8 only two have cars and we have parking for 9 or 10 cars inside. " So there's never more than 2 cars back and fore, ours hardly moves off the drive, only when we go shopping. We're not a public office and are working totally off the internet, so no deliveries or callers either

 

[Estimator]

You say there is parking for 9/10 cars, so what number of car parking spaces are you declaring on the change of use application? 10 or 2 or 4? I would be interested to know that if I was your neighbour, as it affects what you can do in the future if you expand. If you are only declaring 2, then the neighbour would be well advised to be a 'busybody' should that situation change.

 

[Cypriot]

We haven't got as far as a change of use application. As I've previously said, we've been working quietly as an office, thinking we've gone through all the rules and complied, when the planning official called ... so we're still waiting for them to get back to us. But if we have to apply obviously we'd put there's space for 10 cars as that would be the truth. We have a large area around us and we could easily put more if it were needed.

 

[crphillips]

This is my point really......if you only have 2 cars coming and going a day and no other traffic it's unlikely you'll even need to go through a change of use as it still comes under normal everyday traffic for a 4 person family.

We had 4 staff coming and going every day with 2 vehicles between them and also 2 vans on the drive. We negotiated with the council and managed to keep it as residential. All we had to do was get rid of a skip we had. Which we did and then got it back 6 months later when their attention was no longer on us.

If you can avoid changing it to business use then I would as it draws a whole load more expense and attention to you. Also it's a pain when you want to sell in the future. And if they don't let you change it's use your screwed. Go for keeping it as residential. You can fiddle the staff figures a little. They can't look into you that deep. Get a professional planning consultant.