Planning permission

[jackrory]

Hi All,

I was planning on converting my attached garage into an extra room. after speaking with one of the neighbours who had this done, they were told(by the planning people) that they had to pave over their lawn so that 2 cars could be parked on their drive otherwise permission would be refused..they promptly charged them £700 for the privalage and god knows what the extra cost to the build was to get the lawn paved. Anyone heard of this kind of "sham", whats the reasoning behind it. plenty of houses dont even have enough space for 1 car let alone 2.


thanks.

 

[noseall]

a heck of a lot of drawings arrive on my desk with this prerequisite that you speak about.

it is not at all uncommon.

some edging kerbs, 100mm of compacted mot and a bit of top gravel will suffice.

it has something to do with increasing the capacity of a dwelling, which means that the council (planning) can enforce off road parking for two or more cars.

where applicable.

probably.

 

[^woody^]

There is no need to apply for planning permission for a garage conversion.

The reason behind your neighbours decision is that newer properties tend to have a condition on the original permission to the effect that off-street parking is maintained - one in the garage and another on the drive. So if you want to lose the garage parking, then space must be found elsewhere.

What escapes the planners in their wisdom, is that they will approve shoebox housing with a garage not big enough to actually fit a car in.

Even with older properties, part of the approval process is that the development does not impact on the street, so that in order to approve the conversion, then the applicant must find the car space somewhere except on the road.

But unless there is an express condition on the original approval for the house, or in the deeds, then a conversion does not require planning permission.

 

[jackrory]

thank you both..the neighbour did have to alter the kerb also..i think the reason i need planning permission is that i would be extending 5 foot out from where the garage door is at the moment, basically out to where there are pillars supporting my sons bedroom. i did look on my councils planning approval website and i cant find any record of the neighbours application..or the other 3 houses that have had it done...and it goes back to 1999.. oh well..i'll find out when/if i apply.

 

[^woody^]

Yes, extending is different to converting

Even so, front extensions only normally need an application if it will be nearer to the road than the existing house - yours sounds like it wont be.

If you apply to extend the garage, as a garage, then there wil be no problems (unless the actual extending is an issue).

So you don't mention converting at all.

Then when you have permision to extend, you do the conversion (which does not require permission).

If you apply for permission to convert and extend, then you will most likely go through the same rigmarole as the neighbours