Had a call today from a planning officer at the district council. At last they are going to respond to my enquiry about the need for planning consent for replacing my windows, and now it seems they want me to get planning permission, because flats do not benefit from permitted development rights, whereas houses do. This I find a bit annoying – I wonder if I could challenge that under human rights legislation? Why should flat dwellers be discriminated against? Any legal whizzkids read this?
Anyway, the need for planning permission means that the whole window replacement saga, which I kicked into motion back at the end of last year, is going to drag on for at least another two or three months yet. This is annoying in the extreme – my windows are disgusting, rusted, paint flaking, seized shut – if there was a fire in the flat, I’d be stuffed. Replacing them has been something I have wanted to do ever since I moved in, but because the building lies within the conservation area, the planning authoritties have to be involved in just about everything.
I really want to get them done before the autumn – several of the panes are cracked or broken, one of the fanlights is jammed open, and another has a hole in it from where a stone flew up off the road outside. Doing the windows would make the building so much smarter, and would add major value to the property.
Anyway, the council are going to be writing to me in the next few days, after the officer has consulted with the head planning officer. I shall keep readers informed.
separating the wanted from the unwanted