mullethunter Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 (edited) OH and I are house hunting. My main criteria are not to be too badly overlooked and to have a big garden (for obvious reasons ), and his are not down a small country lane, and decent garage. We've found a decent looking place that we're viewing on Monday but at the moment it only has a carport. Looks like it used to have a narrow attached garage but that has been converted into a bedroom. Does anyone know the deal with planning permission to either convert the existing carport to a garage, or re-convert the bedroom back into a garage and extend it by a meter. We wouldn't be building anything higher than the ground floor of the dormer bungalow, and it would most likely be flat roofed. Thank you in advance Edited October 31, 2014 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Can't help personally but you could 'phone the planning dept at the local council and see what they say.........if this property does not fit the bill then the info might be useful for other places that you view. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Thankyou soapdragon. I know that's probably the way to go - but I was hoping to avoid having to actually speak to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I don't think that you have to be specific in terms of the property but try asking a theoretical question At least then you will have the definative answer and no nasty surprises should you decide to forge ahead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcountrygirl Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 think it depends where it is. If it is to the side you would probably need planning permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Thanks for replying though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 You also shouldn't assume that the sellers had the appropriate planning permission for what they have already done!!! Your Solicitor will ask for copies of the relevant permissions and if it turns out they didn't have permission they will need to apply retrospectively. I wouldn't be worried about speaking to your local Planning Officer, in my experience they are generally very helpful and want to work with you to find a way to do what you want to do. Also, if you are buying a property specifically eg. to build a garage on to, it's worth paying an architect or builder to go and look at the place and point out any obvious pitfalls to what you want to do (practical stuff, rather than planning)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Thanks Bramble. If we like it when we see it we'd definitely go back with a builder / my dad (he's built 2 houses) for a decent opinion before we committed to anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 I'm finding the planning portal quite helpful, and don't forget that permitted development rules have been relaxed until April or May 2016 Planning portal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Thanks CharlotteChicken I'll have a look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_H Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 We built a new standalone garage out the front and didn't need planning permission. We wrote to council saying we wanted to a. build new garage b. convert existing garage to kitchen c. convert loft to habitable room. They said we didn't need permission for any of it but did need to follow buildings' regs (which is fair enough). They inspected things (in garage conversion and loft ONLY )at various times and issued compliance (?) certificates for if we sell. They were very helpful, so I would suggest phoning them as others have suggested. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Thanks H. If I understand our councils position correctly that'll be the same for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...