Hi,
I am thinking of buying a 1922 3 bed bungalow It has hardly been touched for 40 years. It still has round pin sockets in some rooms.
It is in a plot of 902 sqm in the centre of a small highly desirable town and is on the market for 249,000. The bungalow is 110m sqm. The bungalow is 2.5m away from the roadside boundary of the plot, and 2.5m away from the neighbours boundary to the north. The majority of the free plot is to the west of the bungalow, with a drive to the south of the bungalow running the length of the plot (5 cars could park nose to tail) to a garage.
The external walls are reputedly single concrete block with internal battening to make them up to 9 inch. the roof is a pyramid (what do you call that?) of small brown tiles of a lowish height (about 190 headroom maximum), with a central chimney.
We want to build a large flatroof extension to the northwest corner, (approx 1 meter from boundary) to house a new kitchen/dining area and a utility. The existing lounge would convert into a master bedroom and we would build a new family bathroom where the exiting kitchen is. the exisiting bathroom would become a showeroom.
Questions:
1) what is the maximum permitted development extention sizes? I have seen quoted 30sqm, 50sqm and 15% of exiting floor area.1a) Is it worth compromising on size to remain permitted development? what size could I get away with if I sought planning permission?
2) what is the most cost effective way of building a large single story extention onto your house? do you get a single contractor, or get someone to do the groundwork and then a bricky to build the extention, and a roofer to put on the roof...3) is an architect/quantity surveyor a waste of money on a project like this, or do they pay for their fees with smart decisions and knowhow?
4) are there any problems with a flat roof on a 7.5m x 4m extension?5) we are probably going to have =A365,000 maximum budget for everything, including fixtures and fittings - is this reasonable? (anyone had a similar extension done before?)
6) do the single brick walls to the existing house pose a probem when reselling at about =A3350,0007) would we be better off with a demolision and erection of kit house? (not favoured, as a) we would have no where to live for a while and b) it would involve the planners, and the rest of the avenue is similar detached bungalows on one side and semis on the other)
I hope I haven't asked too many questions!
TIA
Philip