Red tape shock for treehouse builders
Parents who want to erect treehouses for their children were today facing paying out hundreds of pounds for planning permission following a change in the law.
All treehouses, including the popular flat pack variety from shops like Argos and John Lewis, now need full planning permission from councils. Tree houses have proved a hit with families in the Black Country such as Paul Lewis and his son George, of Allens Lane, Pelsall, Walsall, who sourced wood from a saw mill in Great Barr in 2006 to build their own.
The cost of applying for planning permission is around £150, with parents also having to pay extra to provide detailed drawings and Ordnance Survey maps plotting the exact location of the tree house.
The new rules, which came into force last autumn, means a basic self-assembly playhouse from Argos costing £215 could end up being well over £400.
The charges, which threaten to force the disappearance of treehouses, have been criticised by a former president of the Planning Officers Society.
Phil Kirby, who stepped down from his role last week, said: "It is a perverse consequence of the rule changes that major projects, costing tens of thousands of pounds, no longer need planning permission, but tree houses do.
"I can see why parents might be annoyed at the extra cost."
The rule changes, which took place last October, say "no verandas, balconies or raised platforms" are allowed without planning permission.
Under the legislation, "raised" is defined as a height of over 30cm, meaning even modest playhouses raised just off the ground now require full planning permission.
The Government say the reason for the changes is to prevent structures being created that overlook a neighbour's garden.
The rules are so little known that neither Argos nor John Lewis, which also supply such items, give advice to on-line customers that permission is needed for some of the play structures and climbing equipment they sell.
