planning rules????

Hi O knowledgeable ones.....

I am hoping to have an extension on my house for my Aged P to live in so I can look after him. It will consist of a living room/bedroom with a bathroom and be a single storey.

There is an existing "sun room" (estate agents words) and shed where the new extension will be, it will cover the same floor area. There used to be an old brick built coal shed and wash house on the area before that the exsisting structure replaced.

The neighbours house (that this will all join on to) is much longer and taller than mine with no windows on the side of my proposed ext. The new building will not take anyones light and will not encroach on my garden (anymore than the exsisting stuff).

Has anyone had experience of planning departments and the planning process in general? My council offer a free drop in thing to speak "informally" to a planner, any idea what I need to take? Would some pictures, a drawing of my own and an ordnance survey plan of my house (from the council) be enough? I don't want to get proper drawings done yet!

And on the subject of drawings....roughly how much are they?

Ta muchly IA

Reply to
MadJen
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Take some photographs, from as many angles as you can, also take a brief sketch of the outline of the proposed structure - this only needs to be a rough sketch, but try to get the dimensions correct (ish)

They vary from place to place, but around £300 should cover them.

Reply to
Phil L

Thanks Phil, very odd but I had the figure of £300 in my head...dunno where from though! :)

Reply to
MadJen

You are better off ringing a few builders from the local papers and tell them that you are having an extension built and the first thing they will ask is 'have you got your plans drawn?'...you say 'no, who do you suggest?' and they will give you a reccomendation, you'll find that the same name usually crops up more than once

Reply to
Phil L

snipped-for-privacy@here.con declared for all the world to hear...

I recently built a brick shed. My local council's website contained a brief questionnaire with some simple measurements asked for, and after faxing this in they wrote back within 4 days to advise me that I would not need planning permission.

Perhaps your local authority website has a similar "pre-planning" service?

Reply to
Jon

Is your aged parent in any way disabled? If so different rules apply - if the extension is designed for use by someone disabled local authority waive certain planning rules. Not sure about the most recent changes but worth a try

PhilC

Reply to
PhilC

He's not registered disabled, just can't really look after himself properly and is getting more that way as he gets older (he is 80). As it happens I am registered disabled but then it is not for my use! The purpose is really so that I can keep an eye on him and he has company when he wants it, and cook his meals, do washing and that sort of thing.....he doesn't need any hands on care.....yet.

Reply to
MadJen

There's normally a fee for this now however; and the OP would probably get more out of a personal visit in terms of being able to ask questions and get feedback on what would or would not be likely to be acceptable to the planning committee etc.

If the feedback is that permission is not going to be needed, then the written form would be certainly worth having on file as a butt-covering exercise.

David

Reply to
Lobster

You may be able to get this done under permitted development without having to submit fees or plans, or have the opportunity for refusal. The rules can be quite complex and it is worth still meeting with the planners for their opinion. If it comes under permitted development, you can just do the work, although having a letter from the council saying they agree is good for piece of mind.

In my case, I just went ahead without the letter, as they didn't respond to my email! Hopefully there won't be a problem. You will still need contact with the council with regard to building regulations.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

The message from "PhilC" contains these words:

Also affects Council Tax liability.

Reply to
Guy King

Yes but... as you are registered disabled, can you not tell them this, as you will need special facilities in the extension so you can take care of your elderly relative? ... (yes???) I wonder if the planning dispensation, if one is available, applies to the elderly relative or to the carer??? You should find there are various support organisations and respite support for carers as well as for the care-ee, so perhaps there is no differentiation at the planning level - it can't help to ask.

Don't forget there is (or was, when we did it a couple of years ago...) a special VAT rate (0%) for work done to make a house habitable for the aged/infirm. That included the "necessary" fixtures and fittings for a downstairs conversion of a "study" into a bedroom with en-suite facilities.

We also got many of the special fittings (e.g. handrails, shower seats, toilet raisers, etc.) provided and installed free by the local social services, after an assessment. I'd suggest contacting them for advice but I'm in Scotland, so the support provided may be different for you.

Reply to
John Weston

There's quite a lot of web-based information on what used to be the 'John Prescott' odpm sites covering precisely these questions .... FAQs include; 'do I need planning permission?; how do I proceed? ; etc. etc.. . BTW the ODPM is now splintered off and Roof Kelly is ,apparently, responsible for roofs, walls, windows etc. ... her bailiwick seems to be called DCLG (this week) ' ... don'cha just lurve 'communities' ...!

Basically, you are permitted to 'develop' your house by n cubic metres volume _without_ planning permission (but you must comply with (separate) Building Regulations, this is called PD (Permitted Development). If your building is going to have a change of use ... multiple occupancy? ... then you _may_ require planning permission. Charges seem to vary by council - there's a requirement for the planning department to be self-financing, AIUI.

My council charges a £135 fee on submission of an application for planning permission. The drawings submitted are little more than sketches depicting how the house looks before and after the proposed change(s). Once planning permission has been given a set of detailed (full) drawing needs to be submitted to the separate Building Control department . Within two hundred metres of my house at least three 'extensions' have been 'erected' without planning permission within the 'permitted development' limits of the original house. Contrary wise; there's an equal number of houses that needed planning permission because they didn't want to be constrained to the limits imposed by PD.

Reply to
Brian Sharrock

So how do I work out the cubic metres of my house?? Is it just a case of measuring each room?

Reply to
MadJen

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:10:26 GMT someone who may be "MadJen" wrote this:-

This might or might not be a permitted development, it depends on the precise details. A search engine will pull up the regulations for your particular country, which you didn't state. Read, mark and inwardly digest them as they may be useful.

Planning officials are much maligned, but are actually the normal mixture of good, bad and indifferent one encounters in any group. Most are reasonably approachable and worth chatting with.

I can think of a few stupidities from such officials, the Wendy House in Edinburgh being a good example of this. On the other hand I can think of a number of counter examples where such officials were very sensible. See what they have to say.

Reply to
David Hansen

It is done by external volume, not room volume. However, there are also maximum and minimum limits and average sized houses actually come under the minimum limit, which means that you can have at least 50m3 for a terrace and

70m3 for another house.

Assuming an average height to roof of 3m for a single storey extension, this allows 4m x 4m for a terrace and 4.8m x 4.8m for a semi/detached.

If your house is particularly large to start with, you get more. Note that if the coal shed and wash house existed in 1948 (or thereabouts), then the volume taken by those original buildings can be discounted from the addition. i.e. if they already took 30m3, then you can add that to the figure above, even if you intend to demolish them.

Make sure you get the council's agreement before you proceed, though! There are many possible gotchas and local interpretations.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

From memory if the planned extension is near a boundry, for example I think that excludes the option of using permitted development rights. The location of the windows would also be important. Talk to your local planning officer. He/she can tell you better than I.

Mark

Reply to
Mark

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