Borough to pay out after planning error devalues properties

A London borough has agreed to compensate householders whose properties may have been devalued by a planning error.

The payments by Redbridge Council come after an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman.

The householders had complained to the LGO that the local authority had failed to notify them about a proposed development by a school adjoining their homes.

The school had applied for approval to create a building with a 4.15m blank brick wall along the length of the side boundary of two of the claimants’ properties (who live in the same converted terraced house) and across the whole width of another’s back garden.

Planning permission was granted in April 2009 and work began in July 2011.

The complainants argued that the development had a significant adverse impact on their homes. They also claimed that their boundary walls/fences and property were damaged as a result of the works.

The Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, concluded that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that Redbridge had failed in its duty to notify nearby residents.

However, the LGO also found that the local authority had not fully and properly assessed the design of the development and its impact on residential amenity against its own planning policies.

The Ombudsman said the value of two of the complainants’ properties may have been adversely affected.

Redbridge has now agreed to Dr Martin’s recommendation that the district valuer carry out a valuation on those homes.

The council will pay the difference between the amount the properties are worth now and what they would have been worth had a smaller, more appropriate development taken place.

Redbridge will also pay the complainants £100 each for the time and trouble incurred in pursuing the complaints.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “The approval process failed to take into account the overbearing impact that the wall would have on neighbouring properties and the character of the surrounding area.

“I believe that had there been a full and proper assessment of the design of the development and its impact, the planning application would have been refused. I also note that a senior council officer has said that permission would be ‘unlikely’ if the same application were submitted today.”