Buying a house with a view to extend...

Hi, I'm looking into moving house and I've found a property which is in need of all round attention (new kitchen,bathroom,carpets, windows etc). The house is a small 4 bed detached (only one double bedroom) with a detached double length garage to the side about 3 or 4 feet away from the property.

I was thinking if I had to redo every thing anyway, maybe I could extend the downstairs out to the garage to make what's now storage space into real rooms & extend the upstairs over the garage to make bedrooms of a decent size.

Now, I have no idea whether this would be allowed or not. Is there a way for me to get something like "approval in principle" before actually buying the house???

It's a bit scary to think that I'll be takign the side of the house off! How does this get done without the whole thing falling down?!

Steve

Reply to
adder
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You need to address this from two angles - Planning and Building Regs.

First Planning: Have an informal chat with a Planning Officer at your local council. You should get an *indication* about whether what you intend would be likely to get planning permission. That's the easy bit!

Building Regs and structural issues are another matter! If you are going to build on top of a single storey garage, the foundations must be capable of supporting it based on *today's* standards. It is distinctly possible that if the garage were being built *now*, the building inspector would insist on deeper foundations than it has actually got, anyway - so putting another storey on could be a *real* problem.

It is feasible to remove a substantial chunk from the side of a house, and support the upper floor with a suitably sized RSJ. *But* this will change the distribution of loads being carried by the foundations - and can only be done if the foundations are adequate.

Start by having a word with a Building Inspector at your local council to find out what you would have to do to satisfy them. You will probably have to pay a Structural Engineer to advise you - and the house and garage foundations will need exposing to determine depth, thickness and sub-soil characteristics.

You need to do all of this *before* making an offer on the house!

[The alternative, is to buy it just for the plot - and to demolish the existing house and start again. Even so, you'll need to satisfy yourself that you'll be able to get Planning Permission.]
Reply to
Set Square

You can apply for planning permission before buying the property. You need the permission of the current owner and bag of gold for the council. You might even be able to get rapid outline approval before purchase and fill in the details afterwards, although I don't know if you need to have a much larger application to be allowed to do that.

As for extending over the garage, it will probably be simpler to bulldoze the existing and rebuild that section. The underpinning required to the garage to be allowed an additional storey would likely be more expensive than a scrape and dig. You can also rebuild using the appropriate bricks to match the house, cavity walls, insulation and fireproofing (if you're keeping it as a garage).

Anything's possible with the right structural engineer and enough cash. It'll involve a lot of steelwork, though, which may intrude slightly into the living space.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

You can apply for PP for any piece of land without the consent of the current owner: in a case I know of a local amenity society put in their own application for a site to prove that there was a suitable alternative use (if mere things like finance were ignored). You do have to serve a notice on the existing owner stating that you have made the application.

Having said this, if you're the prospective purchaser it makes sense to get the current owner's support. Also IIRC there is some provision that lets a LA refuse to entertain a planning application if there is no possible chance of it being implemented - so there's no point in applying to turn Buck House into a refugee hostel.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

No you don't! I know of a case of someone getting planning permission for an extension that went onto the neighbours garden, without the neighbours knowledge. It was c*ck-up rather than conspiracy in this case.

MBQ

Reply to
MBQ

Yes, but of course if permission is granted the house/land then suddenly becomes worth significantly more. So doing that before purchase is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

You don't need the owner's permission at all - if you don't own the land, all you have to do is serve notice (on a pro-forma) on the owner to tell him you are applying for pp to extend his house. The application forms should explain everything.

Reply to
Mike Slattery

Any idea on costs??? I know that's like how long is a piece of string but there's another house nearby that's 45k more & is already bigger. I'm guessing the house is less than 20years old & more than likely the detached garage would need to come down & all that side rebuilt. I'd have to take walls off at least the downstairs to open up the rooms. I can do things like drywalling, flooring, wiring, plumbing, windows, roof, etc myself so would "just" need someone to build the structure & plan it all out of course.

Reply to
adder

Yes but if you buy without PP you are gambling on whether you will get it or not - and the higher the possibility the more this will be factored into the price as hope value. If you were (say) a potential self-builder would you get a mortgage on a piece of land on the basis that you ought to get PP? Somehow I doubt it.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

Indeed - this is the classic quandry with buying to build. If youre confident you could resell the place for what you paid for it, buying at an attractive price with the risk of not gettting planning has its attractions, as well as its issues of course. All we can do is help ensure the buyers eyes are open.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

In article , N. Thornton writes

I think an earlier poster has the best idea, go into the local planning office with a sketch and ask informally whether its a goer or not, it won't cost anything and can be done anonymously

Reply to
David

That's unlikely because you're buying with a x% chance of getting PP and selling with a planning refusal and the fact you're selling would suggest that the reasons for the refusal are more or less insuperable.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

which will have no effect whatsover on its resale value.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

Have you looked around the local area to see whether anyone else has done anything similar. In our area it seems popular to extend end-terraces...our property has planning permission, and there a couple of others already done. You might even be able to ask the owners of such a property how much it cost for a ballpark figure.

Reply to
Conrad Edwards

If you would pay just as much for a site where PP has been refused (a refusal not seen as being able to be overcome by an appeal or a minor rework resubmission) and thus setting a precedent for any future planning application I'm sure there are loads of estate agents who would love to meet you.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

Do feel free to explain to us why a 3 bed semi with planning for a huge extension refused is worth less on the open market than the same

3 bed semi when PP has not been applied for.

The fact that 99% of buyers for said property will have no interest in enlarging it does rather come into play, no? It wotn make any difference to them whether PP has been applied for and refused or not. AFAICS the only thing that would affect its value significantly is if PP were granted: then certainly it would increase in value.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

Given that about 50% (or so it seems) of houses round here have extensions of some sort, it would seem pretty unlikely that 99% of potential buyers would not consider the possibilities of extending, and round here agents are always ready to point out "possibility of extending STPP".

If you are making a planning application and a previous application for something similar was refused you have a much harder job ahead of you unless the reasons for the previous refusal were clearly set out and are clearly satisfied by the current application.

If you are heading for a refusal and are not reasonably confident of your chances of arguing an appeal it may be a better strategy to withdraw the application than have a refusal on the planning history.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

That would change things: round here few places have been extended. Then the risk for the OP is greater.

Regards, NT

Reply to
N. Thornton

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