Our neighbour built an entire HOME on his driveway with no permission – and got to keep it after crafty change

RESIDENTS have been left fuming after their neighbour built an entire home on his driveway without permission and got to keep it.

Madam Pal Singh was given the green light to build a single-storey garage at his semi in Highgate, Birmingham in 2019.

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But when a bigger property appeared at the end of the driveway, town hall planners demanded it be razed to the ground.

Mr Singh built a small two-storey house on his driveway with four separate rooms.

Singh was given until July to pull down the new building for being in breach of the original planning permission.

Now, it appears work has been carried out on the building to convert it into a garage.

However, it may not be the end of the planning battle as Mr Singh had been ordered to demolish it entirely in 2022.

The building was complete with windows, a front room, front door and roof extension.

And some homeowners in the area are glad it now resembles something more like a garage.

One local told MailOnline: “It looks like they have finally complied with the order and thank goodness because it was an eyesore.”

Another agreed, saying: “It’s hard to have too much sympathy with them though as they were clearly in the wrong.

“They’ve been working on it for a few weeks now and it certainly looks more like a garage.”

However, another local who wished to remain anonymous, said: “They are nice people and they only built it for themselves.

“They were very courteous of people passing by while the work was being done and always made sure it was neat and tidy.

“They never caused any trouble for anyone around here.”

It was claimed earlier last year that the two-storey building was a gym used by three or four families.

But those living nearby previously opened up and said they’d never stepped foot in the supposed gym.

However, not all neighbours had an issue with the garage.

One told The Sun: “It’s got nothing to do with anybody as it’s their property.

“They asked if they could build a garage, I know them. They had permission for a garage and gym.

“They can do whatever they want to do. That’s nothing to do with nobody.”

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

PLANNING ROW

Planning Inspector Thomas Shields wrote in his report after visiting the house: “The appellant’s case is that the building already benefits from planning permission granted by the council in 2019.

“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.

“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.”

Mr Shields continued: “Instead of single-storey, the appeal building is 1.5 storeys and has two rooms in the roof, facilitated by an almost full-width box dormer.

“All of these differences, between what was approved, and what has been built, are not minor.

“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.”

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.”

A spokesman said: “Planning consent was granted for a single story detached garage to the side of the property on 7 March 2019.

“The building erected following that permission bore little resemblance to the original scale and design, as a result enforcement action followed and remedial works carried out to reduce its size, returning it to its planned use as storage/garage.

“Planning permission was already in place for a very similar building, so no further action was considered necessary.”

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