Roof Terrace

Local Council: Bromley

Appeal Result: Permission Granted

Description: Formation of a roof terrace.

Refusal Stated: "The proposed roof terrace which due to its size and siting has a detrimental impact on the amenities that the occupants of neighbouring residential properties might reasonably expect to continue to enjoy, resulting loss of privacy and unacceptable in noise and disturbance and associated with the use of the roof terrace, thereby contrary to Policies 6 and 37 of the Bromley Local Plan."

Background: A high proportion of roof terrace developments are rejected by councils, which is usually a result of a predisposed bias against such schemes. There are often unfounded fears that roof terraces and balconies will result in antisocial behaviour and a loss of privacy for neighbouring properties. It is our experience that this is rarely the reality as existing windows (views) more often than not mean no additional overlooking is created and these spaces are generally modest additions, so unlikely to be the scene of large social interactions. In our experience the Planning Inspectorate takes a much more balanced approached, which is why we suggested the client appeals the decision. After producing a detailed report highlighting all the relevant facts and redressing the policy quoted by Bromley, LSE made a compelling argument which led to the Inspectorate granting permission for the development. A fantastic result for our client who gained some much needed private amenity space.