When it comes to expanding a house, more and more people are choosing to put a prefab in the garden or plot. These homes provide extra space in a short time to revalue the home, but it must be taken into account that their installation can lead to problems. And this is what has happened to a British couple who face the demolition of their 93,000 euro prefabricated house after the City Council determined that it was built a few meters beyond the authorized location.
In 2019, the couple asked the local City Council for a permission to build an annex in their home in Gillingham (Kent) intended for a young disabled person they care for. During the works, according to reports from the British media The Sun The technicians told them that the structure had to be moved 10 meters to facilitate access for firefighters from the road.
The couple, following the technical advice, continued with the installation, convinced that it complied with the regulations. However, in February 2024 they received an execution order from the City Council stating that the prefabricated house was poorly located and that it should be moved or demolished.
The city council demands changes or the demolition of the annex
After appealing the decision without success, the couple now faces a new problem: they must either pay around 40,000 pounds (about 46,000 euros) to redesign the building or have to demolish it completely. “We are absolutely devastated, to be honest, by all the stress this entails,” lamented the woman while criticizing the lack of coordination between the different municipal departments.
As he explained, when they moved the prefabricated house they did so following the instructions of the technicians and they thought that it was not necessary to request new urban planning permits. In the reviews of the work, at no time were they notified that the change of location required a new license, since they assure that, if they had known, they would have requested it to avoid problems.
In addition, they tried to look for alternative solutions once the problem was detected, such as modifying the structure or reducing its size. In fact, they submitted a retrospective planning application with an adapted design, which was approved in 2022. However, two years later, the city council considered that the necessary modifications had not been made to correct the impact of the annex and issued the final order.
For its part, the City Council defends its actions. In a statement, a spokesperson said that the notification was issued because the approved modifications “were not carried out” and that the Planning Inspection reviewed the case and ruled in favor of the administration.