{"id":1370,"date":"2025-03-26T19:24:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T20:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=1370"},"modified":"2025-03-27T11:27:54","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T11:27:54","slug":"homeowner-ordered-to-tear-down-50000-extension-he-built-for-wife-with-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/26\/homeowner-ordered-to-tear-down-50000-extension-he-built-for-wife-with-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeowner ordered to tear down \u00a350,000 extension he built for wife with cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Man\t<\/div>
Andrew Jolly, 64, built the dormer extension to his bungalow in Wigan to create extra room and provide an en-suite bathroom for his wife, who was being treated for bowel cancer (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A retired homeowner has been ordered to tear down the \u00a350,000 extension he built for his wife, who had cancer<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrew Jolly, 64, built the dormer extension to his bungalow in Wigan to create extra room and provide an en-suite bathroom for his wife, who was being treated for bowel cancer.<\/p>\n

The retired joiner decided to get retrospective planning permission as he wanted to start work<\/a> as soon as he moved in, with large parts of the house not in a good state.<\/p>\n

He says planning officers and building inspectors verbally assured him he would be likely to get permission, but Wigan Council says it has no records of such assurances.<\/p>\n

Now he faces a bill of over \u00a320,000 to take down the structure, which houses the couple\u2019s bedroom, en-suite bathroom, and the home\u2019s heat pump system.<\/p>\n

Mr\u00a0Jolly\u00a0said: \u2018It\u2019s impossible to take it down. In fact, I\u2019m not taking it down.<\/p>\n

\u2018They can fine me or do whatever they want, I\u2019m not taking it down, I\u2019ve not got the funds to take it down.\u2019<\/p>\n

He decided to build the upstairs extension to create extra room and provide an en-suite bathroom for his wife, who was treated for bowel cancer five years ago and has to use an ileostomy bag.<\/p>\n

Andrew got his sons to carry out the work under his instruction and insists he used high quality materials and complied with the council\u2019s building control team\u2019s suggestions to ensure it was up to code.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Andrew\t<\/div>
Andrew Jolly outside his home in Wigan, Greater Manchester (Picture: JP\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Work started in February 2024, but he was told he would need to submit a planning application after an officer turned up about two weeks later.<\/p>\n

Andrew says he was told he shouldn\u2019t stop building when he asked, and he applied in May. Work on the dormer was completed in July.<\/p>\n

However, in late October, his retrospective planning application was refused and an enforcement notice issued.<\/p>\n

Town hall bosses informed him the extension causes \u2018harm to the overall design and appearance of the dwelling\u2019.<\/p>\n

He was then issued an enforcement notice to tear down the structure he had spent months building.<\/p>\n

The decision has left Mr\u00a0Jolly\u00a0dumbfounded \u2013 with several other homes on the street having their own dormers.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018I want the plans passed and for us to move on. The lady that came and took pictures said \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re being made to pull this down\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018The lady next door can\u2019t believe it, over the road they can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

\u2018All the other ones in the street, they\u2019re all s****y s****y looking dormers, ours is up to date, fire-proof cladding and everything.<\/p>\n

\u2018The building control guy said \u201cfor what it\u2019s cost you to build this you could do two extensions with the amount of spec you\u2019ve put in to this\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Enforcement\t<\/div>
The enforcement notice Andrew Jolly received from Wigan Borough Council which requests he remove his dormer (Picture: Andrew Jolly\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the council\u2019s decision, Mr\u00a0Jolly\u00a0has tried to appeal the decision.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s Planning Inspectorate even got involved \u2013 but their findings have backed the council.<\/p>\n

A report written by an inspector at the Planning Inspectorate says the dormer \u2018dominates and unbalances the property\u2019 and \u2018the use of mid-brown coloured cladding\u2019 is \u2018at odds with the property itself\u2019.<\/p>\n

The inspector adds that they find the extension has caused \u2018significant harm to the character and appearance of the property and area\u2019.<\/p>\n

Wigan Council says it is now trying to work on a compromise solution with the unhappy homeowner.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u2018We investigated this extension after receiving a complaint, in line with our planning policy.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is the responsibility of residents to ensure any developments of their property adhere to the relevant planning regulations. Although planning permission can be granted retrospectively in some cases, this cannot be guaranteed.<\/p>\n

\u2018Having undertaken a full review of our case files in relation to this matter, we can find no record of the assurances that Mr\u00a0Jolly\u00a0says were given.<\/p>\n

\u2018However we do recognise the difficult position that Mr\u00a0Jolly\u00a0is in, and we are reaching out to him to see if there is a compromise position which would be acceptable to both him and the Council, and find a resolution to what is clearly a stressful situation for him and his family.\u2019<\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Jolly, 64, built the dormer extension to his bungalow in Wigan to create extra room and provide an en-suite bathroom for his wife, who was being treated for bowel cancer (Picture: SWNS) A retired homeowner has been ordered to tear down the \u00a350,000 extension he built for his wife, who had cancer. Andrew Jolly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}