After many letters, meetings and misunderstandings we have finally managed to get planning permission for an extension to our house.
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| The left hand side of this pair of 1950 semi's is ours |
I'm glad we did preserve with it though as now we have full permission granted (providing we get building regs passed off) to build a two storey extension on the side of our 1950's semi and a small porch on the front.
The extension will include a kitchen dinner downstairs, meaning we can turn our existing tiny kitchen into a small utility room. Upstairs we will cut our existing bathroom in half to form a corridor to the extension and a small shower room, as well as a new family bathroom and another bedroom in the extension.
The addition of the small porch will mean that when you enter into the house you won't walk straight into the stairs and it will give us somewhere to leave coats and boots.
The extension isn't going to be massive but it will make the house a much better size to bring a family up in (even giving us room for more children in the future?) but still be manageable and easy enough to heat and maintain.
As for getting it built its going to be quite a slow process, we're not going to borrow any money to do it, just as and when we can afford it. I'll be building most of it myself with help from friends and family along the way if I can rope them in. hopefully we'll get the porch build in the spring and footings in for the rest next year but watch this space to see how we get on!
May your plans come to full fruition!
ReplyDeleteI hope so - just got to build it now!
DeleteWell done, getting planning permission seems a very hit and miss affair these days. You either get it straight away or have to jump through hoops and twirl your baton to the delight of the committee before anything is passed.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be nice to follow your progress as you build it all yourself.
Yeah I was disapointed with the whole process. Trouble is I want to build a barn as well and I've already been turned down for that so that could be even harder! still if I don;t try I'll never get it!
DeleteWell done Kev - MHDC I guess?
ReplyDeleteNo, Herefordshire, but still difficult. i think they might have been worse though so I should count myself lucky I guess!
DeleteWell done on planning permission. We did an extension 3 years ago and they tried to refuse it but they had no grounds. We now would like a porch built so back to the planning council.
ReplyDeleteWe put the porch in with this one as it's such a polava! Good luck with yours
DeleteI expect that your construction will exceed the original, too bad you can't work in some of those farm house stairs that curve their way up. Have fun with it, let's hope you have seen the last out of the government on the issue.
ReplyDeleteNo chance of it exceeding the orginal! An increase of about 45% I think and thats about as much as we're eveer be aloud to go. the laws are pretty tight here. The house still won't be huge but big enough for us to manage and still be able to afford to heat it!
DeleteIt'll be like having a whole new house! Look forward to seeing the progress.
ReplyDeleteJane x
just a kitchen two of us can fit in will be amazing!
DeleteRegardless of your location it seems you always need a special dispensation from the Pope to modify or add to an old house. Mine was built in 37 and does not comply with the modern expanded setback from the road, thus I am not allowed to add on. No way, no how.The situation is doubly aggravated in lean times when the building inspector isn't kept busy by the big developers and has all the spare time to nit pick us little one pony shows.
ReplyDeleteThats annoying, sometimes it seems like the rules are there just to give people a job - who would you hurt at yours if you went bigger? You've got plenty of space around you!
DeleteGood luck and I hope we have a few good summer so it will make the work easier for you to get on with.
ReplyDeleteThere might not be huge amounts going on next summer with it but hopefully get the foundations and drainage in. as we don't want to borrow money to do it we're not going to be able to chuck it up!
DeleteGood luck, I'm sure it will make a huge difference when completed. So many of my Brit friends have only one bathroom for the whole family. We must be a weak bladdered lot in North America as it is rare not to have a second bathroom. We have three!!!! which as far as I'm concerned means one too may to clean.
ReplyDeleteThis should give us a bathroom and a small shower room. Maybe a small toilet downstairs but I could do with an outside loo the most I think (my wife keeps telling me I'm not aloud a composting toilet but I might build one and not tell her!)
DeleteHaving dealt with the local Planning officers for 40 years (argued with mostly) I'm pleased to note they sound very similar in your area. And they seem to move the goal-posts frequently and usually inexplicably
ReplyDelete.
At least Building Regs run on rules not guidelines, so satisfying them shouldn't be a problem.