Considering a project

[Steve]

Our house is a 3 bed semi. Its been extended across the "driveway" that would have been down the side, so it goes right across the property now, there is no side access. The current driveway has a single opening with space for two cars (focus and a c4) to pull alongside each other in a "triangular" fashion.

The houses on this street are all built in different styles, they all have something different about them, even if its just the lintels, or the chimney arrangement (2 stacks or 1 etc). And they are at different distances from the road too.

On the right of the house (as you look at it, the original part), there is a full height bay window. This bay suffers with damp and condensation both up and downstairs. It was not built particularly well (neither was the rest of the place) and likely has no insulation.

We plan to remove this bay window altogether, top and bottom. At the top we will replace with a flat window and brick panel below. At the bottom we will extend the whole front of the house outwards by about 3-4 feet, and have a pitched tiled roof to match the new roof (doing at same time).

This will give us an extended hallway (currently a 4ft square with 3 doors and a stairway leading off). Off the extended hallway will be a closet to keep coats and shoes in. The only part that wont be extended downstairs is the lounge, because extending this would make it a long narrow room and the coat cupboard would encroach onto any extension to this room which would look odd.

I have attached diagrams to clarify.

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• Steve
• 2 Aug 2009
• 1

(the red lines indicate whats there now)

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• Steve
• 2 Aug 2009
• 1

Would this require full planning permission to the council? Or just building control? And what sort of numbers are we looking at in terms of cost? I'm guessing around £1500 for the two windows (Yorkshire windows quoted £1200 for a bay window a couple of years ago - told them where to go) and I'm guessing the builder could get them cheaper?

Then about £1500 for materials (total guess) and a few weeks labour. We know a good builder who has done work for my grandparents, as well as his own house. Am I in the right sort of area with the money?

(ignore the roof for now - this will be invoiced seperately anyway due to sharing it with the neighbours)

The driveway is block paved and this will be relatively easy to make good around the new extension.

 

[Richard C]

Would this require full planning permission to the council? Or just building control?

Yes you will need PP & a Building Regs. submission. You can get all the relevant information on fees, submission forms & Building Regulations from the Planning Portal;
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/

And what sort of numbers are we looking at in terms of cost? I'm guessing around £1500 for the two windows (Yorkshire windows quoted £1200 for a bay window a couple of years ago - told them where to go) and I'm guessing the builder could get them cheaper?

Ordinary, good quality windows (I have Rahau), as opposed to bay windows, should only cost you around £400 each for that size; they must comply with relevant BR’s.

Then about £1500 for materials (total guess) and a few weeks labour. We know a good builder who has done work for my grandparents, as well as his own house. Am I in the right sort of area with the money?

The only way your going to get accurate costs is to get quotes; get at least 3 & make sure your comparing like with like but it always ends up costing more than you think!

(ignore the roof for now - this will be invoiced seperately anyway due to sharing it with the neighbours)

Does this imply your neighbours are planning a similar extension? Planning can be a bit touchy about extending forward of the existing building line but it may come down to precedents already set in your street; you will stand a much better chance of approval by making a joint submission with your neighbour. It may be a good idea to sound out planning initially before proceeding but if you get any objections, it will go to full committee which complicates matters further as councillors don’t always follow the planning officer’s recommendations & then you’re left to appeal; the only way you’re going to know for sure is to make a submission.

 

[Steve]

I suppose I should have mentioned.

The roof over the small front extension will be invoiced with the extension.

The main house roof invoice will be split between our house and next door, but clearly not equally, since our roof is bigger (next door doesn't have a 2 storey extension)

Also, regarding the building line, as I think I said, there is no set building line, all the houses are at different distances from the kerb, although theres only a few feet in it, and all the houses are a little different from one anotehr. Next door has a garage (adjoining our 2storey extension) which sits a good 3 feet forward of the building line. And a house down the road has had an extension similar to this proposal built (and their house is built further forward than ours). I cant see it being a problem, tbh.

Will there be any requirement for ventilation etc in an extension this size?

 

[Richard C]

As its being newly extended, you will probably be required to install both trickle vents & fire escape windows; you will also need fixed ventilator(s) that cannot be closed if you install a gas or solid fuel fire/boiler in any of the new rooms.

 

[Steve]

I did also have a thought that the planners wouldn't like the fact that next door would still have their bay windows and the two houses wouldnt match, but then i guess this would be outweighed by the fact that our house hasn't matched theirs for 30 years since the 2storey extension was built.

Anyway heres an aerial view so you can picture when im saying about the building line.

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• Steve
• 2 Aug 2009
• 1

The big red line is the "default" property line. The 4 houses of which we're a part were built, for some reason, further back from this. You might notice opposite our house (blue box) is a 70's detached. All other houses are 40's semis. Not exactly standard.

And I've arrowed our neighbours front extension so you can see what im talking about, for reference.

 

[Richard C]

I did also have a thought that the planners wouldn't like the fact that next door would still have their bay windows and the two houses wouldnt match,

Could be a significant factor & if your neighbors object then you could well be refused.

but then i guess this would be outweighed by the fact that our house hasn't matched theirs for 30 years since the 2storey extension was built.

That won’t matter one iota; the most significant factor will be if your neighbors object to the current proposals.

The big red line is the "default" property line. The 4 houses of which we're a part were built, for some reason, further back from this. You might notice opposite our house (blue box) is a 70's detached. All other houses are 40's semis. Not exactly standard. And I've arrowed our neighbours front extension so you can see what im talking about, for reference.

To be honest, you’re clutching at irrelevant straws; I don’t see anything in the photos that would set a precedent; I’ve no idea when your distant neighbors extension was built & things have changed significantly in the last 8-10 years; it may even have been done without PP for all you know! The only way forward is to do some sketches of what you want to do, go visit you local planning, ask their advice & act on that. That still won’t guarantee you will get PP &, as I see it, your biggest problem is going to be possible objections your semi neighbour; I assume they are fully aware of what your proposing? If you donlt have them on your side I fear it may be an uphill struggle!

 

[Steve]

Next door are not currently aware of our plans. However, they are very friendly with us (we have a gate between the two back gardens) and we have used their side access for builders before. They are very amicable about anything like this. So I cant see them objecting. When its mentioned to them, we will discuss whether they'd want to do something similar as the two bays are identical and probably suffer similarly with damp.

Will sketches similar to what I've shown here be sufficient for planners to see what im doing? Clearly I'd have to mark on dimensions and positions of services etc.

What improvements would i need to show for official submitted plans? I expect things like wall type, lintels. Would it be better to have these drawn by a professional?