Planning consent not major worry

We have recently bought a property only to find out that no planning application was ever submitted for conversion works to the barn. What do you recommend we do?

This is not an uncommon problem in France, especially in the countryside.

New owners often only find out about unauthorised works when officials pick up the irregularity on a later planning application for other works.

Pre-contract inquiries by solicitors in the UK mean that this is less of a problem there as sellers have to respond to formal questions about construction work and planning consent.

However, while notaires in France also undertake pre-contract inquiries they do not consult the owner. Their only formal requests for information on the property are to public bodies, to confirm the title and the planning status of the property.

Sellers in France are legally obliged to disclose all material facts about the property, and if they fail to do so, then they can be liable for damages, or even annulment of the sale. However, unless the problem is particularly serious, few new owners want to face often expensive and stressful legal proceedings. That said, the fact that your barn does not have planning consent for the conversion works is not the end of the world.

It is quite possible to submit a planning application to obtain retrospective consent for the conversion works. You can either do so by submitting a planning application for the barn conversion alone or, if you are proposing other works that require consent, submit an application that includes both the barn works and those new works.

Provided they both comply with local and national regulations, then you should be able to get formal planning approval.

The regulations that apply would be those in force at the time of the application, not when the unauthorised works were carried out.

However, there is a risk that if the unauthorised works are not approved, then the planning application for the new project would not get consent.

The one exception to this rule is where the new works are to a different building, or completely unconnected with the original unauthorised works.

Clearly, a judgment is required in each case, but in this example, if you wanted planning consent for, say, an extension to the house, then the unauthorised works to the barn might not prejudice this application.

If you are concerned consent for the barn may not be forthcoming, then you might be better to be a little discreet about the information you share with the local council. However, without planning consent the problem will leave you forever in difficulty with any new and related works you wish to carry out that require consent.

There is a statute of limitations of 10 years, but this applies only to works that were carried out with planning permission but were not consistent with that consent. If the original owner got planning permission for work but then breached the consent – e.g. built a 25m2 extension rather than 20m2 – you would be able to ignore the illegal work after 10 years.