A DEVELOPER is set to sue Winchester City Council for thousands of pounds in a row over a cottage.

Jonathan Greatrix is threatening legal action after officers told him to prove a property is residential months after they recognised it as a cottage.

He is looking to raise the roof of the lodge, behind a house in City Road, so he can add two extra bedrooms, but faces opposition from neighbours who call the plans “outrageous” and “overbearing”.

The two-bedroom lodge, which has been empty since its tenant died in 2010, was recognised as a cottage in three planning permissions dating back to February for the main building, but chief planning officer Simon Avery said the permissions did not directly concern the smaller property.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Jonathan Greatrix wants to raise the roff on the lodge at the back of a City Road garden

He told Mr Greatrix to apply for a legal certificate, to prove it is residential, or apply for a change of use. The council does not hold any official records of the building’s purpose.

Mr Greatrix, a furniture designer who develops property on the side, said officers should have warned him of this months ago as he would have resolved the issue before buying the house. He said “the council’s stupidity” has cost him up to £9,000 in legal fees and interest.

He added that the demand was caused by neighbours belatedly referring to the home as a “shed” because they objected to the extension.

The 19th century terrace is in a conservation area.