**John Phillips built four cabins to rent out in South Wales, but has been ordered to demolish them after his retrospective planning application was turned down**
*Ellie McDonald, Monday November 04 2024, 6.45pm, The Times*
A father is planning to go to court after being ordered by his local council to demolish four luxury cabins with hot tubs because he did not have the correct planning permission for them.
John Phillips, 39, built the four chalets in his garden in the Gower, South Wales, in 2022, to rent on Airbnb for up to £185 a night.
However, he has since been ordered to tear them down because he didn’t have the necessary planning permission.
Swansea council turned down his retrospective planning application for the chalets, which overlook the Wales Coast Path and Loughor Estuary, in July last year and sent him an enforcement notice four months later.
The notice said that Phillips had to stop renting the cabins, demolish them and tidy up the land within six months. This is despite the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb, Philips said.
He said: “It’s really unfair — it’s one rule for us and another for everyone else. [The council] have just awarded a house in our village permission to build a ten-room Airbnb.”
Phillips appealed against the refusal decision and enforcement notice but a government-appointed planning inspector dismissed both appeals. Phillips was granted 12 months, rather than the original six, to demolish and restore the site after the inspector, Richard Duggan, accepted more time was needed to cancel bookings because the pods were in high demand.
Describing the order as “madness”, Phillips said he intended to fight the case in court.
“We won’t be able to afford to pay our bills if this happens,” he said. “It pays our living — it’s our full-time job. We haven’t looked at the price for demolishing it. We are going to fight this every step of the way. We have hired a planning consultant and are currently working on an appeal.”
Duggan said the chalets’ decking and hot tubs were visible from the coast path. “The view from the public footpath, albeit only for approximately 100m, is valuable as part of the experience of walking within the AONB [area of outstanding natural beauty] and the development seriously harms that view.
Swansea council said: “We welcome the decision of the planning inspector in supporting the previous enforcement actions taken by the council in relation to this unauthorised development.
“Hopefully the outcome of this case will send out a clear message that anyone considering development in the city should make sure they do so with the proper planning permissions in place.”
“If we build it first, they’d have to give permissions later!”
Crazy what building with no planning permission gets you… wait no it isn’t
Why on earth would you invest that much in building an entire business before you even had planning permission?
>This is despite the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb, Philips said.
Before they started building, by any chance?
Person builds without planning permission and told to take down said buildings without planning permission. I mean why is this news? This is the system working as expected.
> he did not have the correct planning permission for them
As is so often the case.
> Swansea council turned down his retrospective planning application for the chalets
Rightfully so.
> the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb
Applied for the permission prior to building one.
> It’s really unfair — it’s one rule for us and another for everyone else. [The council] have just awarded a house in our village permission to build a ten-room Airbnb.
One follows the rules, another one doesn’t, it’s so unfair.
> Describing the order as “madness”, Phillips said he intended to fight the case in court.
Sure. Why didn’t you apply for the permission like the other did?
> “We won’t be able to afford to pay our bills if this happens,” he said. “It pays our living — it’s our full-time job.
Poor baby, time to find another job then.
“This is unfair.” No it’s not. It’s entirely on him to apply for the correct planning permission in advance. But in his mind he’s the victim.
I have issues with this.
It’s “Gower” not “The Gower”
Apart from that it’s nice to see Swansea Council doing something right.
The question really should be ‘if he had applied prior to construction, would permission be given?’ The reason I say this is because my next door neighbour has two houses and he has basically built a three bedroom house across the two back gardens, put three story extensions on the back of the two houses making new entrances and forming two houses with patios on first floor, converted the main houses into three flats each AND always gets retrospective permission because there is a shortage of housing. I was told that if the question above is yes, then the council grants retrospective permission.
Insane behaviour investing all that money without the correct planning permission.
They will always have the commemorative gilets to remember them by
Who would go on holiday in someone’s back garden. In wales of all places.
I’m in two minds about this.
For one I think you obviously shouldn’t build stuff without planning permission, and you need to get permission before.
On the other side, the rules are at times unreasonably restrictive and heavily biased against individuals (over larger companies).
The wooden buildings were in view of the coastal path, as a reason for rejection. So all of the dilapidated existing houses are fine, but if someone wants to put in something new that’s not a concrete monstrosity then they will be rejected as it’s an eyesore… I could understand if these were the only buildings in the area, but this isn’t some remote path with nothing on it, it’s going through a village.
Similarly near me, someone got rejected for a loft conversion as they wanted to push up the roof height by around 50cm, apparently that’s not in keeping with the surrounding area. A couple of years later an empty plot opposite got planning permission granted for a 5 storey apartment block – clearly that’s in keeping. The level of inconsistency of planners is astounding.
If you check out the adjacent house (which I am assuming is his) at 0:48 it makes his claim of poverty a tad laughable. I am from this part of the UK, Langland Bay is a very upmarket village, assuming you even found a place there to buy it would be well above the average for the Swansea area.
He has put these cabins a stones throw from the coastal path, a walking path through the UKs first ever designated area of outstanding natural beauty. Not a sensible thing to do really, you’d assume the council would have issues.
How can you have so much money to invest and be so bereft of common sense (as there is no way he paid for this build with a commercial loan as he didnt have planning permission).
Madness.
Why do the blokes in these types of articles always look the same. They always have that “totally someone to avoid when they’re coked up at kicking out time” vibe.
Who would have thought I’d see John Phillips of ex UFC fame pop up on here about building without planning permission. Happy Tuesday I suppose.
I guess you’re better off asking for planning permission than planning forgiveness.
> This is despite the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb, Philips said.
Hmmm. I wonder what the difference between that development and yours is….
£185 to stay in somebody’s back garden he must be bloody joking
Just more proof that AirBNB is a cancer needing excised.
Ban it.
Who’s using the world’s smallest violin? As I can’t find it.
Whilst I’m sure this is difficult news for this family they made these decisions themselves. I am sure they knew this was a possibility.
In my view though it’s great imagine if people just started building whatever they want wherever they want to, imagine if for instance Amazon built a warehouse on his garden and just said don’t worry we will apply for planning permission.
Relies on those cabins for a living? I call bullshit, decked out in gear that looks like he’s got a monopoly of Airbnb properties/cabins.
He doesn’t have to destroy them!
He can take them down and re-sell or store and rebuild after he has correct planning permission.
Destroy is inflammatory; also what does luxury mean, implies cost/money; they are just wooden huts.
Why is their child on display? They are not being deported or thrown on the streets?
We all know exactly how this went. He thought that if he just built them they’d have to give retrospective planning permission, and he could smooth the wheels with a few bungs here and there. In some places, that’s probably true. I could tell you some tales of local authority planning corruption… Luckily, in this case the planners were both moral and efficient, and spannered him off.
Now he’s outraged that he has to obey the rules like everyone else and trying to drum up sympathy with his r/compoface. Boo fucking hoo.
Love the way he’s moaning about the only source of income, go get a job then pal 😂
well if they didn’t get planning permission, then they almost knew they wouldn’t be allowed it. so they walked into this with open eyes.
“They’re here to take my photo for that article? Quick! Where’s my best ribbed sleeveless gillet? The one I wore to court for that affray thing?”
29 comments
Article contents:
**John Phillips built four cabins to rent out in South Wales, but has been ordered to demolish them after his retrospective planning application was turned down**
*Ellie McDonald, Monday November 04 2024, 6.45pm, The Times*
A father is planning to go to court after being ordered by his local council to demolish four luxury cabins with hot tubs because he did not have the correct planning permission for them.
John Phillips, 39, built the four chalets in his garden in the Gower, South Wales, in 2022, to rent on Airbnb for up to £185 a night.
However, he has since been ordered to tear them down because he didn’t have the necessary planning permission.
Swansea council turned down his retrospective planning application for the chalets, which overlook the Wales Coast Path and Loughor Estuary, in July last year and sent him an enforcement notice four months later.
The notice said that Phillips had to stop renting the cabins, demolish them and tidy up the land within six months. This is despite the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb, Philips said.
He said: “It’s really unfair — it’s one rule for us and another for everyone else. [The council] have just awarded a house in our village permission to build a ten-room Airbnb.”
Phillips appealed against the refusal decision and enforcement notice but a government-appointed planning inspector dismissed both appeals. Phillips was granted 12 months, rather than the original six, to demolish and restore the site after the inspector, Richard Duggan, accepted more time was needed to cancel bookings because the pods were in high demand.
Describing the order as “madness”, Phillips said he intended to fight the case in court.
“We won’t be able to afford to pay our bills if this happens,” he said. “It pays our living — it’s our full-time job. We haven’t looked at the price for demolishing it. We are going to fight this every step of the way. We have hired a planning consultant and are currently working on an appeal.”
Duggan said the chalets’ decking and hot tubs were visible from the coast path. “The view from the public footpath, albeit only for approximately 100m, is valuable as part of the experience of walking within the AONB [area of outstanding natural beauty] and the development seriously harms that view.
Swansea council said: “We welcome the decision of the planning inspector in supporting the previous enforcement actions taken by the council in relation to this unauthorised development.
“Hopefully the outcome of this case will send out a clear message that anyone considering development in the city should make sure they do so with the proper planning permissions in place.”
“If we build it first, they’d have to give permissions later!”
Crazy what building with no planning permission gets you… wait no it isn’t
Why on earth would you invest that much in building an entire business before you even had planning permission?
>This is despite the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb, Philips said.
Before they started building, by any chance?
Person builds without planning permission and told to take down said buildings without planning permission. I mean why is this news? This is the system working as expected.
> he did not have the correct planning permission for them
As is so often the case.
> Swansea council turned down his retrospective planning application for the chalets
Rightfully so.
> the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb
Applied for the permission prior to building one.
> It’s really unfair — it’s one rule for us and another for everyone else. [The council] have just awarded a house in our village permission to build a ten-room Airbnb.
One follows the rules, another one doesn’t, it’s so unfair.
> Describing the order as “madness”, Phillips said he intended to fight the case in court.
Sure. Why didn’t you apply for the permission like the other did?
> “We won’t be able to afford to pay our bills if this happens,” he said. “It pays our living — it’s our full-time job.
Poor baby, time to find another job then.
“This is unfair.” No it’s not. It’s entirely on him to apply for the correct planning permission in advance. But in his mind he’s the victim.
I have issues with this.
It’s “Gower” not “The Gower”
Apart from that it’s nice to see Swansea Council doing something right.
The question really should be ‘if he had applied prior to construction, would permission be given?’ The reason I say this is because my next door neighbour has two houses and he has basically built a three bedroom house across the two back gardens, put three story extensions on the back of the two houses making new entrances and forming two houses with patios on first floor, converted the main houses into three flats each AND always gets retrospective permission because there is a shortage of housing. I was told that if the question above is yes, then the council grants retrospective permission.
The appeal decision if anyone is interested. [https://property.swansea.gov.uk/online-applications/files/6373C6F122FA88420805268E7CA4E91D/pdf/2022_1770_FUL-APPEAL_DECISION-1701480.pdf](https://property.swansea.gov.uk/online-applications/files/6373C6F122FA88420805268E7CA4E91D/pdf/2022_1770_FUL-APPEAL_DECISION-1701480.pdf)
Insane behaviour investing all that money without the correct planning permission.
They will always have the commemorative gilets to remember them by
Who would go on holiday in someone’s back garden. In wales of all places.
I’m in two minds about this.
For one I think you obviously shouldn’t build stuff without planning permission, and you need to get permission before.
On the other side, the rules are at times unreasonably restrictive and heavily biased against individuals (over larger companies).
The wooden buildings were in view of the coastal path, as a reason for rejection. So all of the dilapidated existing houses are fine, but if someone wants to put in something new that’s not a concrete monstrosity then they will be rejected as it’s an eyesore… I could understand if these were the only buildings in the area, but this isn’t some remote path with nothing on it, it’s going through a village.
Similarly near me, someone got rejected for a loft conversion as they wanted to push up the roof height by around 50cm, apparently that’s not in keeping with the surrounding area. A couple of years later an empty plot opposite got planning permission granted for a 5 storey apartment block – clearly that’s in keeping. The level of inconsistency of planners is astounding.
Here is the business website [https://www.gowercoastcabins.co.uk/](https://www.gowercoastcabins.co.uk/)
If you check out the adjacent house (which I am assuming is his) at 0:48 it makes his claim of poverty a tad laughable. I am from this part of the UK, Langland Bay is a very upmarket village, assuming you even found a place there to buy it would be well above the average for the Swansea area.
He has put these cabins a stones throw from the coastal path, a walking path through the UKs first ever designated area of outstanding natural beauty. Not a sensible thing to do really, you’d assume the council would have issues.
How can you have so much money to invest and be so bereft of common sense (as there is no way he paid for this build with a commercial loan as he didnt have planning permission).
Madness.
Why do the blokes in these types of articles always look the same. They always have that “totally someone to avoid when they’re coked up at kicking out time” vibe.
Who would have thought I’d see John Phillips of ex UFC fame pop up on here about building without planning permission.
Happy Tuesday I suppose.
I guess you’re better off asking for planning permission than planning forgiveness.
> This is despite the council awarding permission to another house in the village to build an Airbnb, Philips said.
Hmmm. I wonder what the difference between that development and yours is….
£185 to stay in somebody’s back garden he must be bloody joking
Just more proof that AirBNB is a cancer needing excised.
Ban it.
Who’s using the world’s smallest violin? As I can’t find it.
Whilst I’m sure this is difficult news for this family they made these decisions themselves. I am sure they knew this was a possibility.
In my view though it’s great imagine if people just started building whatever they want wherever they want to, imagine if for instance Amazon built a warehouse on his garden and just said don’t worry we will apply for planning permission.
Relies on those cabins for a living? I call bullshit, decked out in gear that looks like he’s got a monopoly of Airbnb properties/cabins.
He doesn’t have to destroy them!
He can take them down and re-sell or store and rebuild after he has correct planning permission.
Destroy is inflammatory; also what does luxury mean, implies cost/money; they are just wooden huts.
Why is their child on display? They are not being deported or thrown on the streets?
We all know exactly how this went. He thought that if he just built them they’d have to give retrospective planning permission, and he could smooth the wheels with a few bungs here and there. In some places, that’s probably true. I could tell you some tales of local authority planning corruption… Luckily, in this case the planners were both moral and efficient, and spannered him off.
Now he’s outraged that he has to obey the rules like everyone else and trying to drum up sympathy with his r/compoface. Boo fucking hoo.
Love the way he’s moaning about the only source of income, go get a job then pal 😂
well if they didn’t get planning permission, then they almost knew they wouldn’t be allowed it. so they walked into this with open eyes.
“They’re here to take my photo for that article? Quick! Where’s my best ribbed sleeveless gillet? The one I wore to court for that affray thing?”
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