Buying and extending our flat. Where do we start?

[MrsArtyFarty]

We are in the process of buying our two bedroom, ground floor council flat with the intention of extending it to accommodate us and our 3 kids. We would like to add a third bedroom and expand the living space by adding a dining area and a larger kitchen. 

We have a good idea of what we want and have drawn plans using an CAD program. Would these suffice to get planning permission and for the builder or do we still need to get the services of an architect or a draughtsman?
We are planning to knock out portions of two supporting walls and, depending on price, 2 chimney breasts, so will probably need to bring in a Structural Engineer. Does this person just come in an tell us which parts of our plan are possible and which parts are not? How much should I be expecting to pay out for this service? 

A few rooms suffer from damp which I think will be solved after we do the renovations however someone has suggested that the problem has probably been exacerbated by a council-done pebble dash job which has breached the damp proof course. Whoever did it also blocked up the air bricks with pebbles and then painted over it. We've been here for 7 years and it was like this before we arrived. What's the likelihood that this might have caused serious long term damage? I understand this might have caused the floor boards to start rotting? Finally (for now), the extension we are planning would go over where the manhole is. How much should I be expecting to pay to have the manhole moved? Thank you for any advice or guidance.

 

[rjm2k]

Will you be buying the freehold? Are you sure the council wont attach restrictions on development?

 

[luisdesign]

Because you are in a flat, you will have no permitted development rights so any changes you want to make (to the outside of your property) will certainly require Planning Permission.

The plans that you will need to provide must be clear, to scale and accurate and contain all of the necessary information for a planning officer to consider against the local policies.

You must also provide various supplementary drawings including site location drawings and block plans and it is likely you will need to show scaled and accurate elevations (and sometimes a section too).

Aside from the drawings themselves, you will need to complete the correct application form and compile all the necessary information and supporting documentation needed by the council as per their local submission requirements.

During the application you may need to liaise with the officer and make alterations to the above submitted information to help get a positive decision.

As long as you are confident that you can carry out and manage all of those items then go ahead... however (as a professional who deals with designs and applications ) I would always recommend employing the services of a professional who deals with designs and applications.

The benefits of approaching a professional will always be their experience. They may have local experience and understand the local policies so will be able to advise you if your wishes are not very likely to get approved (thus saving you money on dead horses). Importantly, they may be able to help meet your brief in ways you may not have considered and finally will have a good understanding of how buildable your proposals may be (there's little use getting permission for something that you cannot physically build... let alone build within your budget).

Finally they may also be able to help direct you to suitable professionals including structural engineers and builders.

You need to consider that your home is probably the biggest investment you will make, so don't cut too many corners.

 

[^woody^]

Before you do anything, I would check that the Council as the Housing Authority (not planning authority) will allow extensions on their sold properties

You tend to find that this is prohibited in the sale deeds

 

[MrsArtyFarty]

Lots of helpful advice already, thank you!
Spoke to the council previously and they said that I would be able to extend on the property however the lady I spoke to today said it would be best to request for and get approval in writing so will be doing so. In ouoner case, the flat is a house conversion with other flat upstairs. We have both a front and back garden. Floor space is about the same as a house with similar number of bedrooms minus stairs.
Thanks for clarification on getting a professional to do the drawings. Will definitely be doing so.

 

[^woody^]

Spoke to the council previously .

Just to clarify, you don't just speak to a lady at "the council" you need to speak with the specific person who deals with the sale of council properties.

Normally, you would do this via your conveyance Solicitor who will check the sale documents to confirm that what you want to do is permitted. The contents of the deeds and contract of sale are paramount, and don't rely on anything else.

 

[MrsArtyFarty]

Thanks Woody. At present, everything is just a pie in the sky. We have no solicitors yet as we are still awaiting a valuation on the property. I have been informed that we should receive this at the end of the month at which point I want to run with it. We won't buy the place unless we can expand it because that would mean we would be forced to live in an overcrowded place for 5 years in order not to have to repay the RTB discount.
I have been asked to send in a letter outlining my intent. I've assumed this to be a letter to the freeholder requesting permission to carry out the work - am I right? Not sure if there is any point to this (yet) as we are not yet lease holders however, if we can't get approval there is no point in buying this place.

 

[rjm2k]

You need to check the following

1. Assuming what you want to do is within permitted development, the property has permitted development rights.
2. The council won't remove permitted development rights when they sell
3. The council won't add other restrictions on development when they sell
4. If the council retain the freehold, that they will allow you to do what you want.

If there are no permitted development rights or what you want to do is not covered by permitted development, it would be wise to apply for planning permission for what you want to do before purchasing otherwise you could buy the place and then find you can't get planning permission.

 

[luisdesign]

The OP described her property as a ground floor flat, and as a flat the property would not normally have any permitted development rights.

However, applying for permission before you buy is actually a very good idea. The good thing with applying for planning permission is that you do not need to be the owner of the land (though you do have to notify them using the appropriate notification certificate).

Not only does this give you certainty of whether you can actually do the works, but it also demonstrates to the freeholder exactly what it is you want to do. This covers all eventualities... if the planning is refused or if the freeholder is not happy with your proposals, you can decide not to buy...

It does mean investing some money in the process up front, but this is much better than buying the property only to find out its no good for what you need later (spend now to save later).

If you were buying a house on the open market this would not be a good idea (because you could pay for all the planning works and then the current owner could decide not to move or sell to someone else... or simply up the price to account for the new potential!) but your situation is entirely different and so its actually a very good course of action.

 

[rjm2k]

Of course, forgot flats don't have PD, so the OP really does need to apply for PP but that will take some time so it needs to be done asap so as not to delay the purchase.

 

[^woody^]

There is no "The Council" in this instance. There is the council as housing authority, and the council as planning authority.

The council (housing) can't put planning restrictions on a council house sale, and the council (planning) won't know and can't consider the conditions the housing dept put on a sale property

 

[indus]

For what it's worth...

I have looked to buy flats that are ex local council/ex housing association in the past and all of them clearly excluded such works in their leases.

So it is the lease you need to check and I'm pretty sure you will find that it will have a number of restrictions

1) The supporting/structural walls will not form part of the demised property and so you don't own them (and hence can't touch them). The lease usually states you own the walls only up to the plaster finish.

2) Even if the garden is demised to you there will be a restriction in the lease that clearly states no additional building can be constructed.

Yours might be different but I've read through at least ten such leases and they all say the same thing, you can't do anything at all.

Before you waste any money I would read through the lease.