Family who built two-storey house on driveway finally has property torn down by council

A man who built a detached house on his driveway without permission has finally had it removed.

Mr M Singh, from Birmingham, was originally granted permission to build a single-storey garage back in 2019, but council bosses and residents were left in shock when a much larger 'house' popped up on the drive instead.

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Mr Singh was told to demolish the building following appeal, where he argued there were only 'minor differences' to what had been approved in the original planning permission.

Although the family originally wanted to use the building as a gym - and were adamant it would be remaining as it was - new photos reveal that the property has been reduced in structure to the shape of a garage, which was previously approved.

According to South West News Service, a woman who answered the door of the house refused to comment when approached.

One resident said: "It looks like they have finally complied with the order and thank goodness because it was an eyesore.

"[...] They will be kicking themselves though, it must have cost them a few bob to throw that up in the first place and now having to pay to pull it mostly down.

"They've been working on it for a few weeks now and it certainly looks more like a garage."

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Another added: "We just assumed they had permission to do that in the first place.

"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.

"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."

Planners had originally given approval for a 5.3m x 4.6m garage to be built at the location, but the new building exceeded this by several metres.

Planning Inspector Thomas Shields wrote in his report: "[...] 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.

"[...] 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 added that instead of single-storey, the building had two rooms in the roof.

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

A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: "The council is actively pursuing compliance with the Enforcement Notice.

"It is a live case so there's nothing more we can say at this stage."

The council had said previously: "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."

Topics: News

Lucy Devine