Our family has been left homeless after council ordered us to tear down our dream house – we’re devastated

A HEARTBROKEN family has been left homeless after the council ordered them to tear down their dream house.

Dan and Stacey Bond live in an unconventional off-the-grid home in the Kent countryside.

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Now they face having to get rid of their property as they have not got planning permission.

The couple live with their four-year-old daughter in a house made of recycled shipping containers, Kent Online reported.

They spent about £40,000 on the container house, solar panels and electrics which allow them to live comfortably on the campsite.

They built the home themselves on land they owned in Folkestone – but they hit a brick wall when a council ruling ordered them to demolish the property.

It even has two bedrooms, a kitchen and bathroom downstairs, and a living room upstairs.

Eco-conscious Dan and Stacey also use recycled materials to live a sustainable life and be self-sufficient.

Surrounded by pigs, alpacas and chickens, the family enjoy the idyllic scenery the area has to offer.

Before, the family-of-three lived in a converted double-decker bus.

Dan, 37, and Stacey, 31, then moved to Swingfield Minnis for a more sustainable home with their young daughter – where they have lived since last April.

But since the couple have not been given planning permission for the camping or their two-storey shipping container home, Folkestone and Hythe District Council is now set to take enforcement action to tear down the home.

Dan told Kent Online: “What do the council want? Do they want to give us a house? It’s just insane.

“We’re trying to be eco-friendly, we’re trying to be sustainable. Even if we did go on the housing list, we’re not going to get a house.”

He added: “So we’ve tried to do our best and we can’t afford anywhere else, so we’ve done this and this is what we’ve got.

“Within two weeks [of moving in] we had the planning enforcement officer at the gate asking exactly what we were doing.

This is the right thing for me and my family and the best life for my daughter to be brought up in.

Dan Bond

In 2018 the couple applied for planning permission to build a subterranean eco-home on the site.

But this was refused on the grounds that it would be “unsustainable development in the countryside”.

Dan argues it is unfair to restrict development on the site, which sits close to a main road served by regular buses and is bounded by other homes just metres away.

He says he has tried to communicate with the council over his plans, but as a dyslexic he struggles with the paperwork and there are also costs associated with submission of applications.

The couple succeeded in getting retrospective permission for the driveway and a pond, but the rest of the facilities on the site – including a solar array and a prison van housing the chickens – face being torn down and removed.

At a planning committee meeting last Tuesday councillors voted unanimously to approve the officers’ recommendation that enforcement action be taken against the family.

A report put to the committee states: “The breaches of planning control that have taken place on the site are the change of use of the land to a mixed use of residential, tourism and operation of a car accessories business; the installation and siting of various structures, equipment and paraphernalia associated with those uses, the erection of timber fencing and gates and the laying of hardsurfacing.

“The residential and tourism uses are considered to constitute unsustainable development in the countryside, result in the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land and be detrimental to the character and appearance of the countryside and the North Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Special Landscape Area.

“It has not been demonstrated that the uses would not result in harm to occupants of the site from contamination or that the additional overnight accommodation would not result in harm to internationally designated sites.

“The tourism use is also considered to be detrimental to the amenity of nearby residents.”

Following the vote at the meeting an enforcement notice will be issued “requiring the use of the land for residential and tourism uses to cease and the removal of all associated buildings, structures and paraphernalia.”

Folkestone and Hythe District Council have been contacted for comment.

It’s not the first time concerns over planning permission have hit the news.

It comes after a tycoon told how she won a planning battle after building a cafe, car park and road at her £20million without permission.

Emma Harrison wept when she heard that she had beaten planners who were demanding she rip down the new developments in a “blatant disregard” for their rules.

Last year, a furious homeowner was ordered to tear down his brand new house – even though none of his neighbours had complained about it.

Officials said Graham Ralph must demolish the six-bed property because it doesn’t comply with building regulations.

Meanwhile, a planning expert revealed a “loophole” Brits can use to convert outbuildings into an extra bedroom – without permission.

The move, which is totally legal under British planning law, means homeowners can develop something as humble as a bike shed into a spare bedroom or living space and not get in trouble.

Plus, a couple was ordered to tear down their £725,000 dream retirement home – just five years after it was built.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk