Your house is illegal but it’s your human right.

A £750,000 house condemned as the most flagrant breach of planning permission has been saved from the bulldozers so as not to infringe the human rights of the owner.

Planners ordered Ken Duffy to demolish his five-bedroom ‘chalet bungalow’ in the new Forest saying he had built it twice the size they gave him clearance for. But he has successfully appealed against the order, even though the inspector hearing the case agreed the house seriously harmed an area of natural beauty and should never have been built.

Howard Russon said it would not be right to render the former night club owner, his wife Jacky and children Connor, six, Eamonn, four, and baby Melissa, homeless and bankrupt. It is the first time the human rights legislation which came controversially into force in October has been used in a planning dispute and could have serious implications for development laws.

Even Mr. Duffy,46, who spent two years building the property after moving to Hampshire from London, is surprised by the view taken by Mr. Russon Mr. Duffy simply maintains he broke no laws in the first place. ‘I am obviously over the moon but a bit surprised by the reason for allowing the appeal’ he said. ‘I believe that I built a home I was fully entitled to build and so accordingly I appealed against the council’s order’.

Mr. Russon backed the view of New Forest District Council that the house, in Ossemsley, near Limington, bore no relation to the bungalow the plot of land had planning permission for, but decided they were not entitled to knock it down. ‘The erection of this large detached dwelling has seriously harmed the character and appearance of this vulnerable rural area,’ he said. I am therefore in no doubt that the retention of this dwelling has undermined the objectives of local planning policies aimed at protecting the very special landscape of this part of the New Forest.’ But he went on: ‘The appellant drew my attention to the human rights legislation that makes it clear that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and correspondence.’ ‘In this case I recognize that by upholding the enforcement notice in its present form the appellant and his young family will be made homeless.’ ‘In this situation it seems to me there would be a violation of the appellant’s Human Rights under article 8.

‘I fully accept that these rights have to be balanced against the public interest and the need to protect the environment through the application of restrictive planning policies. However, the private costs in this case are very substantial and include the loss of the family home and possible financial ruin of the appellant.’

The Council is preparing an appeal to the High Court. ‘The implications of this decision are so great that it is inevitable we shall appeal,’ said Chris Elliot head of development control. ‘My planning colleagues across the country would expect us to appeal because it will effectively mean we are rarely if ever able to correct things that have already been done.’

Mr. Elliot says his officers repeatedly warned Mr. Duffy that his building was not in line with the planning permission, but by the time they realized how far he had contravened the plans it was too late to prevent it being finished. Local Government Association Planning Officer Lee Searle said:’ A lot of Human Rights decisions are in the test process. If this case goes further, through the full legal process, the nit will enable case law to be argued in the future. This particular one sounds difficult and quite alarming.’

Human Rights Appeal Quashed – October 200_.

NFDC challenged that decision in the High Court and the Secretary of State and Mr. Duffy have submitted to judgement. If this decision is used against authorities they need to be aware that it has been quashed. Details awaited from the Planning Inspectorate and New Forest District Council.

Task 7: Test your knowledge with this quiz.

1. Rearrange the letters in bold to make a word: the absolute right to hold land or property for an unlimited time without paying rent is called rofedleh.

2. What is the difference between the answer to number 1 above, and the word leasehold?

3. True or false: the way in which a piece of land is held (as in 1 and 2 above) is called land tenure.

4. Choose the correct word in bold to complete this definition: a person or company which rents a house, flat or office in which to live or work is called a tender / tenure / tenement / tenant / tentacle.

5. In Britain, a person who arranges for the sale of property is called an estate agent. What is the American equivalent of this expression?

6. True or false: the transferring of property from one person to another is called conversion.

7. When you buy a house, why is it important to get the title deeds and keep them safe?

8. Imagine that you are buying a house with the help of a mortgage from the bank. The national interest rate looks likely to rise rapidly over the next year or so. Should you consider getting a fixed-rate mortgage or a variable-rate mortgage?

9. If you take out a mortgage to buy a house, and you use the house as security, the mortgage-lender might repossess (= take back) your house if you are unable to pay back the money. What is this called? Is it: (a) disclosure (b) exposure (c) foreclosure

10. A married couple buys a house as joint tenants. Who actually owns the house? Is it: (a) the husband (b) the wife (c) they both own it equally (d) it depends how much each person paid towards the house.

11. The new owner of a house discovers that there is a right of way in his garden. What does this mean?

(a) He can build another house in the garden if he wants.

(b) He must sell part of the garden after a fixed period of time.

(c) Other people can walk through his garden to get from one place to another.

(d) Farmers can let their cows and sheep use his garden.

12. A woman is buying a house. She makes a price offer, which is accepted by the seller. She is then gazumped (1. to raise the price of something, esp. a house, after agreeing a price verbally with (an intending buyer); 2. to swindle or overcharge). Would she be happy or unhappy about this?

13. Choose the correct word in bold to complete this definition: a liability such as a mortgage or charge which is often attached to a property or piece of land is called an enforcement / encumbrance / endowment / engrossment / encroachment.

14. In Britain, house buyers must pay tax on the documents that record the purchase of the house (if the house costs more than a certain amount). What do we call this tax? Is it: (a) excise duty (b) customs duty (c) active duty (d) double duty (e) stamp duty

Task 8: Aunt’s heir. Look at the following series of pictures. Write a short story as if you were the lawyer of this family.