Do I Need Planning Permission.co.uk
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Hi. My husband has inherited his parents' property after they died last year. We have found a buyer and all was going well until we hit a hurdle. Basically, my mother in law bought a bungalow with a wooden lean to. In 2004, she got rid of the lean to and put in its place a conservatory double the size. The buyers solicitor is asking for planning permission and building regs, and we dont think they applied for it. How do I know if planning/building regs were even needed. The other thing that seems to be causing problems is the fact the conservatory is part of the bungalow - the back wall of the house has now gone, and the kitchen has been built into the conservatory. There is no door/wall separating the main house to the conservatory. How is this relevant and why does it cause problems??? Please help as we really need a quick sale to enable my husband to begin grieving properly (whilst this legal headache is ongoing we havent got time to stop and grieve properly) Thanks, Beckie

http://www.doineedplanningpermission.co.uk/improve/conservatory.aspx

I am sorry to hear of the angst that this is causing and quite rightly, you wish to get this resolved as soon as you can. I attach a link to the conservatory/rear extension section of the website and you will find the information there regarding extensions. However, it is likely that if the property hasn't been the subject of other extensions/alterations that planning permission was not required as the structure was deemed to be permitted.
In terms of opening up the kitchen, can I suggest you contact your local building control service as they will be able to hopefully regularise this.

In planning terms, if the conservatory has been there since 2004 even if it was not considered to be permitted development at the time, it is now immune from enforcement action as it has been there for more than 4 years.