Holmes Gardens Development

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TOur client owned a piece of waste ground at the rear of a commercial building, which for 30 years plus had served no purpose to anyone, except fly tippers. Back in 2004, we tried to get planning permission for additional parking, which was refused because of concerns over additional traffic. In 2005, we applied for planning permission for two houses, which were refused because of a shortage of parking. Then, in 2017,  we finally received planning permission for four flats. The next aspect was to ask the planning department to approve the intended bricks. The planners made full use, and beyond, of the two months to give the approval of the bricks, leaving us three days for the builder to get the foundations in the ground, or we would default on the planning condition and so lose the planning approval that was so hard won. In the meantime, we were dealing with contaminated soil, party wall issues, internet and electricity connections. 

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The project took 18 months to build- quite long for such a project. Apparently, the builder trusted only one bricklayer, and this bricklayer laid every single brick, meticulously, though I might add. Still, after waiting so many years to get the project out of the ground, a few extra months to guarantee a good quality build and good client/ builder relations didn't seem important. 

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To see more about this project see https://www.building-tectonics.co.uk/post/holme-gardens-a-warning-to-would-be-developers