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Written by rosalind renshaw

A new insurance policy has been launched to protect home buyers and owners from breaches of planning regulations that may have been committed in the past without their knowledge.  

The initiative, by First Title, comes in the wake of the Localism Act 2011, which has created new powers for enforcement of breaches of planning control.

Previously, breaches of planning control became immune from enforcement if no action had been taken within certain time periods.

Now, however, local planners can ask a magistrates’ court for a planning enforcement order to authorise enforcement action after the elapse of earlier periods.

The criteria for the granting of a planning enforcement order include deliberate concealment ‘to any extent’ of a breach of planning control – for example, building a large extension or even a house without planning permission, or changing the use of a garden outbuilding to a place of employment without notifying planners.

The effect of the new enforcement powers means that anyone buying a residential property could unwittingly be held responsible for any breach of planning control concealed deliberately by a previous owner.

This could, in a worst-case scenario, result in home owners being forced to demolish a house or conservatory.

Kevin Dick, chief operating officer of First Title, said: “While we support the Localism Act in general, one of its drawbacks is that it has introduced additional risk and uncertainty to the conveyancing process and to home ownership. We’ve developed our new policy to address this head on.

“It’s difficult to accurately predict the impact on home buyers of the new powers introduced by the Localism Act, but we believe it has the potential to be significant. At least home buyers and home owners now have a tailor-made insurance solution available to them, which is affordable and robust.”

First Title’s new ‘Localism Policy’ provides an indemnity against loss in value of a home as a result of enforcement action taken pursuant to these new enforcement powers.

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