An unauthorised extension has been knocked down by a home owner after Hillingdon Council served him an enforcement notice.

Rabiraj Nemchand, of Orchard Road, Hayes knocked down the extension at the rear of his property after losing a planning appeal and judicial review.

The authority has called the demolition a ‘planning victory’.

An enforcement notice was served in 2011 as the size of the extension had exceeded what was allowed by planning rules.

He appealed against this notice, which he lost and the decision went to Judicial Review.

The decision was then referred back to the Planning Inspectorate, who ruled the extension must be demolished or made into an outbuilding which complied with planning regulations governing the size and use of outbuildings.

Before
After

The extension was turned into an outbuilding but it was still too large, and when council officers explained to the owner that he must either demolish the outbuilding or reduce its size, he reverted the building back to the original extension, which had been the reason for the original enforcement notice.

Mr Nemchand’s failure to comply with the enforcement notice could have resulted in court action.

He was told that if he did not demolish the extension, the council would take direct action to demolish it under planning powers, and seek to recover the costs.

An inspection of property last month showed that the extension was still there so the council started preparing to undertake demolition works.

However, a further check made on July 8 revealed that the extension had now been demolished.

Councillor Keith Burrows, cabinet member for planning, transportation and recycling, said: “I am pleased to see that this resident saw sense and did the right thing. He took our advice and knocked the extension down.

“We recently took action in another case and had to undertake the work ourselves to demolish an illegal outbuilding. It is a last resort but we will take action if residents continue flout planning laws and they could end up paying a hefty fine if we prosecute.”