A couple faces eviction from their house after the city council ordered its demolition because it is only 75cm high.
The stylish new detached build in Prestwich, Bury, will be demolished after planning bosses also said its owner built the four-bedroom property five feet in the wrong direction.
It is currently rented by married tenants who now need to find a new home.
‘We found out yesterday,” the distraught husband told MailOnline.
‘It was a shock. My wife has been talking to the owner. She said she’s going to appeal, so we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The property in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, is currently let to married tenants who will now need to find a new home.
Council officers have ordered this newly built house, on the left, to be demolished because it was built just 75cm high.
Owner Martin Wright was ordered by Bury Council to demolish the house within five months.
The authority’s planners said a “breach of planning control” had occurred.
Plans for the two-bedroom house in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, were originally approved in 2018, but the council began enforcement action in 2023 once it had already been built and occupied.
The council’s enforcement notice calls for the house to be demolished and permanently removed along with all garden structures and retaining walls.
All resulting materials must be removed from the site to restore the land to its previous condition.
An appeal was made, but in April Mr Wright was told he had six months to demolish the house and restore the land to its previous state.
The council claims that the building has been moved forward by approximately 145cm and is therefore not in the position shown on the approved plans.
The enforcement notice says: “As a consequence of the above, the parking area has a depth of 4,550 mm (455 cm) instead of 6,000 mm (600 cm) as indicated on the approved plans.”
The available space would not accommodate parking needs. The two-storey height at the front of the building has been omitted and therefore does not comply with the approved plans.’
The height of the building has been raised by approximately 75cm (750mm) and the steps to the main entrance are not positioned according to the approved plans. The elevation of the south gable is not adjusted, as windows have been added to the first and second floor levels.
The council added that the building “amounts to unauthorized development and constitutes a material breach of planning control”.
The house on Butterstile Lane was also found to have been built 5 feet in the wrong direction.
The council claims that the building has been moved forward by approximately 1,450mm and is therefore not in the position shown on the approved plans.
The husband who lives at the property said: ‘We found out yesterday. It was a shock. My wife has been talking to the owner.
Bury Council said the building “amounts to unauthorized development and constitutes a material breach of planning control”.
The notice added: “The building, as constructed, is detrimental in its location, layout, lack of parking, external appearance and poor design.”
In his notice of appeal decision, planning inspector Peter Willows said: “The housing now constructed differs from the permitted housing in a number of respects.”
He added: “I think the building constructed damages the character and appearance of the area.”
Willows increased the time allowed for demolition from 60 days to six months.
He said: “As the property is apparently already occupied, it is necessary to allow an appropriate period of time for the occupiers to seek alternative accommodation.”
Given this change in circumstances since the notice was issued, the council now accepts that a longer period for compliance is appropriate. The appellant suggests a period of six months.
In my judgment, this would strike an appropriate balance between the needs of the property’s occupiers and practical considerations, on the one hand, and the desirability of ensuring that the breach of planning control is remedied without undue delay, on the other.’
