Alleged Council Enforcement Officer threatening over the phone?

Reply to the comment left by RL at 26/01/2021 - 14:42
I suspect he might be busybody as I have not heard anything further. Having looked on English Heritage Website" I find that only an outside building is Grade II Listed (y house) there is no mention of interior of building. The alleged officer claimed at the time of call that, previous owners breach of planning is an inheritance of planning breach.

His lack of knowledge in regards to he failed to differetitate between lack of "Listed Building Consent" and breach of planning reinforces my suspicion that he was planted by some upset neighbours as both planning and listed building consent are 2 different departments.

Reply to the comment left by Mike W at 26/01/2021 - 17:18
Not really sure what point you are making. As my article is based on factual information not opinion or hypothesis.

Reply to the comment left by Harlequin Garden at 26/01/2021 - 15:23
I have floor plan for HMO. No changes made but general refurb. It is not block of flats it is House Conversion sharing same entrance etc. Council in question appears to think I do need HMO Licence and I have valid Licence in place. (5 Tenants in total). Conversion was not done in line with Building Control approval which then requires HMO Licence (Under Housing Act 2004 Section 257)

Reply to the comment left by Harlequin Garden at 26/01/2021 - 15:23
You are right, our condition of indemnity cover is not to alert Council yourself that, you do not have Listed Building consent otherwise this will render our policy void.

Listed status applies to whole of the building within the curtilage, the particular part of importance could be a façade externally, or a stucco cornice internally is fairly irrelevant as the whole building comes under the listing umbrella regardless, and perms are required for any works at all as a result including those works which have no influence at all on the listed element- As for the 'officers' visit, probably another bad day at the office dealing with listed building refubs! Conservation officers are well known for being ott dramatic types...If you've ever had a planning app within a conservation area you dread the arrival of the conservation officers report..Tread carefully though as technically unauthorised works are unlawful.

Reply to the comment left by Simon Hall at 26/01/2021 - 21:37
I had very similar, an HMO that was converted over time to separate units - once noticed by the housing officer it no longer qualified for HMO status - story is longer than that but that is the point, it may be that different areas have different requirements. Also once separate units it does qualify for council tax - this is a house converted to shared units and then to self contained units common entrance. If nothing else get a certificate of lawful use before you get an enforcement notice.

Also sounds to me that you did alert the local authority.

I suspect that this may be a council employee. I have had two similar experiences relating to Grade 2 listings.

On the first occasion the council employee had clearly worked himself up rehearsing what he wanted to say when he burst into my office and announced how I was breaking the law relating to the alterations to a property and would face a criminal prosecution. He went on for a full two minutes before the smile on my face and complete indifference registered. He asked why I did not seem to be bothered. I can still remember the look on his face when I told him I absolutely no connection with the property in question, that he should check his facts in advance and told him to get out in the next thirty seconds.

On the second occasion I was removing a stud partition and a false ceiling that had been put up in the 1970s to subdivide a rather grand room prior to the 1991 listing. Now clearly this was a potential problem as I had misunderstood the historic value of the 1970s stud partition. After the council officer had calmed down we had a meeting where I expressed disappointment regarding the quality of the two metre length of the original cornice I had uncovered. He told me I should only expect a quality cornice in the first-floor drawing room of the original house, so I told him we were in the first-floor drawing room of the original house. Then the council wrote and announced they were going to launch a criminal prosecution for removing original marble fireplaces etc. I had to point out that the “evidence” they had related to the next-door property.

It seems to me that these council officers are usually well under 5’ 6” tall and are seeking to make up for this or some other physical deficiency. They clearly failed the application to join the police and let power go to their heads.

Although it sounds like you might possibly have had permission to go ahead from one council dept, it might not have been from the right one.
The council have the power to issue an enforcement notice themselves, to stop or reverse unauthorised works on a Grade 2, without having to apply to a Court. If the 'official' was genuinely acting with authority, I think it's likely that you would have received an enforcement notice that same day.