outline planning project

[Undergruntled]

Hello all, is there a sticky anywhere about outline applications? Our contact in the council is not being at all clear and google searched bring up different things at times! We want to know a couple of things:

We have a bit of land which we want to sell as we are poverty stricken, so can only afford to gamble a small amount of money on outline planning. We have registered on the planning portal, but not put any info in yet.

The council want a location plan, (sounds easy) but also a block plan which seems to be a red line round the building you plan to put up. Does an architect need to draw this? Looking at applications submitted locally they all look totally different!

Thank you all,

 

[Nakajo]

Why do you want outline planning?

 

[Undergruntled]

Because the plot of land is worthless without permission of some sort being agreed on it.

 

[^woody^]

It depends what extent you are seeking permission for. You can apply just for things like siting or size or external appearance only and not detailed design.

Your application can be a square on the site plan.

 

[Undergruntled]

The plan is to sell the plot with outline planning for a three bed bungalow. It's quite a big plot and is only 100 yards from a row of eight council houses, plus there is a bungalow next to it, so it has to be worth a try..

 

[chappers]

The council want a location plan, (sounds easy) but also a block plan which seems to be a red line round the building you plan to put up. Does an architect need to draw this? Looking at applications submitted locally they all look totally different!

Thank you all,

The location plan you can just lift from the land registry and the block plan is something you can do yourself if you can do a basic survey of the site and draw to scale and yes would need to indicate where the proposed property would sit on the site and it's extent.
Obviously you could do this yourself, but submitting amore detailed plan may increase the value far greater than the costs involved in getting some drawings drawn up properly.

 

[Undergruntled]

OK. Could it be done by someone other than an architect? Would there be a professional person who could do this who would cost a bit less? seems like an easy job for one who can.. a draughtsman perhaps?

 

[tony1851]

You would not use an architect for this - a local architectural technician would do the job just as well, and prob. a lot cheaper.
If you know roughly where the house should go, and its footprint, it's not difficult to draw the outline.

 

[Undergruntled]

ok, well we don't really have an idea of the size as we have never done this before. I guess we will look at bungalows and copy the dimensions of it onto the plan....

 

[^woody^]

ok, well we don't really have an idea of the size

You don't need to. You just apply for the principle of a bungalow, house or block of flats or whatever, in the outline application.

But what you don't want to do is sell the land with permission for a bungalow, when it can have a several flats built on it and thus be more valuable.

You need advice on the development potential of the land, not just someone to draw you a plan.

 

[Supersax]

If you want to apply for Outline approval with 'all matters reserved', i.e. the very simpleist form of Outline application, all you need to do is
-complete the application form-
- attach the site location plan (usually at a 1:1250 scale), outlining the site area in red, and the other land that you own (but is not part of the application) in blue
-attach the block plan (don't pay anyone for this-certainly not an architect). This will be at a scale of 1:200 or 1:500. If you're unsure about drawing this yourself, you can buy an electronic version from one of a number of suppliers on the Planning Portal. With an Outline application, you don't even need to indicate the size or location of the bungalow or house, however you do need to show the proposed access to the bungalow or house on the block plan. As long as this is shown accurately, you can show the bungalow or house as being pretty much anywhere on the site, or any size (or even not include it at all!). Whoever buys the land will not have to site the bungalow/house wherever you have shown it. Remember, you are only applying to be able to use the land 'in principle' for residential development. All the council will consider is 'Is a residential use for this site acceptable?' and 'Are there any highway safety implications for a residential development on this site?' (hence why you have to show the proposed access)
-pay the £385 fee

If it was me, I'd investigate whether there have been any previous refusals on the site before i submitted the application, and also what the Council's housing policy was (it should be on their website, or your Council contact should be able to point you in the right direction)

Of course it you want to apply for an Outline approval with 'some matters reserved' you can do, but that would involve submitting more details and accurate layout plans.