Couple had to endure year-long £20,000 battle with planning officials over the ... trends now
A couple have told how a year-long petty row with officialdom over the colour of their roof has left them £20,000 out of pocket.
Leona and Laurence Jacobson spent their life savings to buy a derelict property and transform it into their dream family home.
Despite having the support of neighbours and the local parish council and the detached house not being a listed building or in a conservation area, planning officers told them they couldn't have a grey slate roof.
They said it had to stick to the 1970s look of the existing properties in their cul-de-sac in Highcliffe, Christchurch, Dorset.
Yet aerial photographs of their smart neighbourhood appeared to blow the roof off the council's case by revealing that about 30 houses had grey roofs.
Leona and Laurence Jacobson say they've spent their life savings on their dream home, transforming a derelict house into a family home
The couple's house in Highcliffe, Christchurch, Dorset under construction and with their new grey roof
Despite their roof colour matching 30 other neighbouring properties, planning officials told the couple they couldn't have their grey slate roof and might now be forced to replace it
The Jacobsons appealed the decision but when the process was hit by lengthy delays they were forced to press ahead with the roof and agreed in principle with a planning officer they would paint it brown if they lost.
They were dismayed when a planning inspector eventually sided with the local council and dismissed their case.
They faced enforcement action that would have led to them repainting the roof or replacing it with a brown one, costing another £20,000.
As they were getting quotes to re-roof the property, council officers inexplicably changed their minds and told them it would not be in the public interest to enforce the breach.
It brought an end to the saga that rumbled on for almost 11 months and would also have cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds.
The couple, both 43, who have two sons aged four and seven, estimate they have spent about £20,000 on the planning appeal, extra build costs and seven months' rent they had not planned on. The bill to the taxpayer is likely to be the same amount.
They have called the process 'ludicrous' and questioned the council's reasoning.
The Jacobsons bought the property for £800,000 in 2022 after it had sat empty for 20 years.
Mrs Jacobson said: 'I grew up in the area but moved away for work. We moved back because we wanted the kids to grow up by the sea like I got to.
'We were due to get planning permission in February 2023 but they found bat remnants so we had to wait until the summer for the bat survey. But the planning officer told us our application was approved subject to that.
'Then suddenly when we got the planning permission there was a condition in there saying we can't use any of the materials we wanted - no rendering or cladding and we couldn't have the slate tiles we wanted, they said it needed to match
