Side Extension Questions

[themugger]

Hi all, i wonder if someone can give me some answers to my questions below.

I live in a side terrace in sutton, surrey and am planning a side extension. I have a party wall agreement with the neighbour as he is planning the same in a few years so is happy for me to build the center wall now.

q1./ do you think the party wall agreement will effect me doing the build under permitted developement, i had read into permitted developement quite a bit and im sure everything else passes so just a question on the party wall really.

q2./ the other question is with regard to the brick facing. as i said earlier my neighbour is going to use the wall to build hes extension too in a few years so i would rather not if i could get away with it face the wall with stock brick as this is gonna cost me around £1,400. I was going with 100mm thermalite inside which comes out at around £300. now i know the permitted developement stats you must keep materials same as existing house and obviuosly i would render yellow to match the colour of ther brick. I would also brick the front of the extension to tie in with the front of the house.

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Cheers
Tom

 

[jeds]

Party wall agreement has no influence whatsoever on permitted development rights.

Your biggest issue will be the finish of the wall. You quite rightly say that the new wall must be in similar materials to the existing house. I don't think a rendered wall would be considered similar. You could just wing it and carry on and if planning get onto it you will have to drag it out as long as possible until your neighbour gets building. (you can easily drag something like this out for a few years) Problem comes when your neighbour decides not to build, or moves house, and leaves you high and dry. You will then have to have a fall back just in case.

If it were me I wouldn't bother with the render. Next door are the ones looking at it so a grey block finish will just give them more incentive to get on and build. If it comes to the crunch the only thing I can think of is to finish the wall with brick slips - which will go better on a block wall than on render.

BTW 1400 quid sounds a lot of dosh for the difference between stock bricks and rendered block for a single storey side wall??

 

[themugger]

thanks jeds, well its 2500 bricks i need for the outer skin and 3-4 hundred blocks. the bricks im looking at are around 50p each hence the £1400....

 

[themugger]

Can i also ask about Building regs in this post. I have had my drawings checked out via a friend of mine who is an architect and he says they are fine and comply with building regs, If i am doing this build under perm developement can i get away without applying for building regs approval.....

It just seems to good to be true that i can give 48 hour notice and start work, im well aware the building inspector will come but i would prefer that anyway i suppose...

Thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

No you need to get Building Regs approval, legally speaking it is unavoidable for an extension. Beware that if doing this ona notice which it sounds like you are, you will ought to have a good knowledge of the regs before you start. Are your drawings Planning drawings or Building Regs drawings? The Building Regs fees have just been changed and are now more expensive when doing it on a Notice than if you get pre-site approval.

 

[themugger]

To be honest my drawings just lay out all the dimensions of the build to a 1:50 scale, i can list all the materials we are going to use so i assume these will be okay to sumbit with building control.

Im doing to build with my dad whos been around the game for a long time (not a builder) but does alot of work for them. Like i said before an architect has looked over the plans and said they look pretty good so im hoping the onsite approval is the way to go... I believe this way the fees will be £575 as oppsed to about £475 so not much difference in cost.

The main benifit for me is i can start work straight away instead of having to wait 5-6 weeks or more for the approval. Im trying to get the build compete before xmas so need to start asap really.

thanks for your help so far.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If doing it on a Notice then you probably won't really need to submit any drawings anyway.

 

[themugger]

Argh okay, i like to have them drawn up any way.... thanks for your advise so far, its been really helpful..

If i do go down the notice route and lets say i do something that doesnt comply to the building regs and the inspector sees it, do they typically just tell you to correct it or could it be alot worse.... im hoping that i have covered most regs by research and previous knowledge but just want to be sure if i do muck up im not gonna be into much deep water....

Thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You can still submit the drawings aswell, they won't not accept them, and they'll pick up anything that doesn't comply.

If i do go down the notice route and lets say i do something that doesnt comply to the building regs and the inspector sees it, do they typically just tell you to correct it or could it be alot worse

How bad it could be would really depends on how bad your cock up was, for example fit roof joists that are too slender and find that the inspector only picks this up after the roof finish has been applied would not go down too well would it?

 

[themugger]

yes hopefully this will not be happening.... i think i have choice the best route to go for me and i will submit my drawings anyway and see what they say.

Thanks for your help...

 

[jeds]

Can i also ask about Building regs in this post. I have had my drawings checked out via a friend of mine who is an architect and he says they are fine and comply with building regs, If i am doing this build under perm developement can i get away without applying for building regs approval.....

It just seems to good to be true that i can give 48 hour notice and start work, im well aware the building inspector will come but i would prefer that anyway i suppose...

Thanks

Wow. That gives you an extension about 16m long at 2.4 high. It is single storey is it?

 

[themugger]

Hi, its only 9m long by 1.5m with a height 2.4m

The extension will run down the side of my house and about 1.8m out the back of the house. Yes its a single storey.

ive uploaded a quick copy of my plans and highlighted the new extension here -

 

[themugger]

With regards to the brick facing work, i just had a call back from planning and i quoted him the following from the permitted developement guidance doc.

"Development is permitted by Class A subject to the following conditions:
(a) the materials used in any exterior work (other than materials used in the construction of a conservatory) shall be of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the exterior of the existing dwellinghouse
The condition above is intended to ensure that any works to enlarge, alter or improve a house result in an appearance that minimises visual impact and is sympathetic to existing development. This means that the materials used should be of similar visual appearance to those in the existing house, but does not mean that they need to be the same materials. For example:
•
the external walls of an extension should be constructed of materials that provide a similar visual appearance - for example in terms of colour and style of brick used - to the materials used in existing house walls"


I said to him about using block on the side wall and then rendering and he could not give me a clear answer to whether i could do this or not....

I wish someone could just give me a yes or a no lol, can i block it or do i have to brick it! my neighbour will have a 6ft fence next to the extension so you shouldnt be able to see that much from the road anyway...

arghhh!

 

[jeds]

The bricks on the side elevation are 2.4x5.6m which is about 800 bricks. At 50p each that's four hundred quid. Blocks would cost about £150 which leaves about £250 difference. By the time you've rendered it the actual diffrence will be next to nothing.

 

[themugger]

Hi Jed, its 8.6m btw. the other cost is obviosuly the bricky. im sure its gonna be a lot cheaper to block thatn brick but anyway i might just play safe....