01-07-2025
Our neighbour built TWO new builds next to our quaint cottages – we'll buy popcorn & watch council rip them down
FUMING neighbours say they're ready to "buy popcorn" and watch if bulldozers tear down two newbuild houses built next to their home.
The controversial semi-detached homes sprung up on the site of a former pub car park in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
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But the properties, which one neighbour vehemently opposes, were built after their planning permission timeframe had lapsed.
Now locals are demanding action over the development - which they claim towers over surrounding heritage cottages and damages the area's character.
Residents have also called on council officials to make an example of developers who flout planning laws and later seek retrospective approval.
Helen Naylor, 50, said: "People in Bradford build exactly what they like, when they like, how they like. And to hell with all rules and regulations.
"The council needs to get its act together because in Bradford, nobody seems to care.
"I think everyone around here has just had enough of it."
The homes appeared in just under a year on the site of the long-disused pub car park in the Heaton area of the city, with one listed for sale online as a five-bedroom, three-storey property.
Although permission was granted in 2015 for a modest development, residents claim that lapsed long before building began.
Now, both homes face potential demolition if Bradford Council refuses to approve the scheme in hindsight.
Neighbour Jane Loe, 68, said: "It's quite funny in a way, but also horrible for those who live here.
"My neighbour and I said we're buying popcorn if and when they make them pull it down.
"We're going to sit out here and laugh."
Ms Loe, who lives opposite the new houses with husband Nick Swift, 76, has claimed that the final product looks even worse than the one that was proposed.
She explained: "The original design was unattractive but what they've actually built is even worse."
The developer, named in council documents as Amjad Yaqoob, reportedly believed the 2015 approval still applied when he purchased the land.
He has claimed to have been unaware that the consent had lapsed.
Bradford Council has confirmed that no valid permission was in place when the two homes were built.
A decision on the retrospective application is expected in the coming weeks.
Neighbours close to the new-build homes say they hope the council will take firm action.
Mr Yaqoob, who runs a building company in Bradford, declined to comment when approached.
However, architects working on his behalf told Bradford Council that there was "never any malicious intent to build something without approval", and claimed the development was "very similar" to the previously approved plans.
The firm added: "The materials used are sympathetic to the area, and there are no additional issues of overlooking or overbearing.
"We therefore feel the retrospective application should be approved.'
The developer's agents, P.N. Bakes Architectural Consultancy, argue that the homes are "very similar" to the 2015 plans and say their client believed a "material start" had already been made.
Bradford Council say enforcement action will be "reviewed" once a decision is made.
A spokesman said: "Our Planning Enforcement Team have investigated reports of these works being carried out without planning permission.
"As a planning application has now been submitted, the matter of enforcement will be reviewed once a decision on planning permission has been made, as is standard practice nationally."
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