House purchase

[Steve]

Essay coming up! Bear with: We went to view a house today, 3 bed semi with a brick outhouse adjoined (original to the house).

I would like some opinions regarding viability of an extension on this house, as there seems to have been very little on the street done similar to my proposal.

House front:

Couple questions here: hard to see in the photo but air bricks about 6-7 courses above the upper windows have been mortared up (lighter looking bricks). Also one between the lintels of the top windows. Why might this have been done? The vendor wasn't present today but the house has clearly been lived in by an older couple/person and well looked after - new boiler, windows etc. I wonder if they have blocked these up due to cavity wall insulation?

Back of house:

House current plan:

This is pretty accurate and depicts all the cupboards etc exactly as they are.

What I plan is to leave the upstairs alone in terms of layout, all is good there. Downstairs before we viewed the place the plan was to simply knock the wall down between the kitchen and diner (and the built in cupboards on this wall) to create one room, but having viewed it and seen the true non-wide-angle-lense size of the place, it won't be big enough for us even having done that. So, thoughts turn to an extension as below:

Apologies for the size/clarity. In short, as well as what I said before about creating a big kitchen/diner, this would involve demolishing the outhouse and toilet, and building a new extension across the width of the house and some, leaving just enough width for access to the garden externally. This plan also involves removing the whole back wall of the downstairs if possible. A vaulted ceiling in the extension would be nice too. If a mid-way support is necessary, I've drawn this on at the end of the kitchen worktop.

All walls in this place are solid brick as far as I can tell, and concrete downstairs floors.

Is my proposal feasible? Anything to watch for in this type of house? It is freehold so just planners to worry about. By the way, I am all for buying this house, the missus isn't so sure due to the work involved. I'm trying to reassure her. It is a bargain at £105k, worth every penny, reduced from £115k. Every room is decorated nicely if you're 90. Every room needs decorating, new bathroom needed (just a big shower at the moment), stairlift to strip out (and sell of course).

What sort of figure would I be expected to pay for the above extension, structural work and a bare plaster finish? All decorating and kitchen work would be done by me. House is in Rotherham. We'd be doing the extension work prior to moving in.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

One limit will be how big is the garden- check the planning portal for how much original garden you're allowed to cover under PD. You also need to check that the place actually has permitted development rights. Have a search through the councils' planning website, see if anyone in the street has applied to extend & been knocked back.

If all that comes up positive, allow £1000 per square metre and you'll not be far off. As long as the foundations are conventional & the place isn't sitting on made ground.

 

[Steve]

Houses on the street have had full on two storey side extensions. Just looked at PD rules. I dont see why this house wouldn't have PD rights. It has a big garden with the only rear neighbour being the secondary school.

 

[Steve]

Just revisiting this, if we wanted to go ahead with this project what would be involved? Where to start? Who do I need to employ? Would I need full drawings etc and who would be able to do them? Everything up to choosing a builder.

 

[Nakajo]

Technically, you need planning permission. Why? Because you are extending beyond the flank of the house with an extension which is wider than half the width of the house. So why 'technically'? Because often LPA's fail to spot this when submitted by way of a prior approval or lawful development certificate. So, you should apply for planning permission. I see no reason why it would not be granted.