Watchdog rules against council after house was built a foot taller than planned

“Mr and Mrs B”, whose names are not revealed by the report, complained that a house on neighbouring land was not being built to approved blueprints, but later found Telford & Wrekin Council enforcement officers did not have the “expensive, specialised” equipment needed to measure land levels precisely.

The 35-centimetre discrepancy was later identified by the developer, and was found to be caused by “improper excavation”.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) found Telford & Wrekin Council at fault for failing to spot the breach, being unclear about the difference between “measurements” and “assessments” in correspondence, and taking eight months to resolve the complaint.

The council has apologised, agreed to pay Mr and Mrs B £200 and changed its enforcement procedures, including “making fewer visits on a particular day so officers can type up site notes and take actions sooner”.

While the house nearest to Mr and Mrs B’s own was under construction, they told the council they had concerns about land levels on the site, and said this was affecting light levels on their property.

Site visits took place in January and June 2020.

“Officers repeatedly told them there was no breach of planning control,” the report says.

In July, after Mr and Mrs B had contacted their councillor, the council contacted the developer.

“The developer measured the land levels and confirmed the finished floor levels were ‘out by approximately 35 centimetres’,” the report says.

“The site had not been excavated properly.”

The council declined to take enforcement action, and the report notes that it is a discretionary power only taken when negotiation has failed to resolve the problem. It instead invited the developer to submit retrospective plans reflecting the house as it was finally built. The council later approved these.

“In August, the council apologised to Mr and Mrs B following their complaint about its actions,” the LGO report says.

“It said no intentional errors were made in the assessments.

“The discrepancy was, it accepted, not readily visible. It was only because of Mr and Mrs B’s continued concern that the survey was done which found the excavation incorrectly done.

“The council also said it had introduced additional processes to further review officer enforcement recommendations. Additional training will be given to enforcement officers to provide them with support.

“It will place the onus on developers to show they are building according to approved plans. It apologised for the failures to spot the finished floor levels earlier. It also explained it does not have the expensive survey equipment which needs using by technical specialists.”

Ruling against the council, the LGO report notes that “it took eight months before the council could say for certain whether there was or was not a breach of control” while Mr and Mrs B “suffered inconvenience and frustration, and lost confidence in the council’s enforcement capabilities”.

It adds that the council has put “significant additional resources” into its enforcement team, who it said were “extremely stretched” at the time.