A HOMEOWNER who converted a loft without planning permission could be ordered to remove it.

A large flat roof dormer has been installed at 21 Cecil Avenue, Chafford Hundred, Grays, which planning officers say is too large and out of keeping with homes in the area.

The owner of the imposing, detached double-fronted home mistakenly believed the work could be carried out under permitted development rights.

Thurrock Council launched a planning enforcement investigation and established development consisting of a single-storey rear extension and a loft conversion featuring a large dormer had taken place without planning permission.

The rear extension was granted retrospective permission in February but attempts to rectify concerns over the dormer have failed.

Planning officers advised removal of planned mock Tudor beams on the dormer would be "preferable" to reflect "the existing character of an area" but they remain part of the design.

Even if the dormer was rendered as requested, planning officers said, this "would not lessen the impact from the oversized scale of the dormer and its unsuitable design in this locality."

The council said it considered that design and material choices are "imperative in ensuring a proposal suitably reflects the existing character of an area". Whilst Chafford Hundred itself is formed of many varying property styles, designs and layouts, Cecil Avenue is "considered consistent in terms of the closely related property styles".

In a report on their decision to refuse retrospective permission for the loft conversion, they said: "The existing dormer is overly large, disproportionate in relation to the roof slope, overbearing, dominant and incongruous, which is further exacerbated by virtue of the location and corner plot siting of the host dwelling.

"Views are afforded to the rear of the property from many vantage points which therefore require additional consideration in terms of dominance and visual impact upon the host dwelling, immediate street scene and wider area."

The council said it had given advice to the homeowner for the dormer to be revised in style, size, and appearance. Enforcement action is likely to follow if this advice is ignored.