Yes… your house could look as good as this one if you go about things the wrong way!
Whether you like your local school or it is the area you have taken to, a majority of people do not want to move house these days. On the other hand, you need the extra space… so whats the answer?
Improve… extend… re-model perhaps!
Thankfully we have a good system put in place for England to regulate what and how the proposed extension should look like, good old Planning Services.
As much as people think the local planners are a jobs worth (and sometimes they certainly can be!), they really are there to prevent additions to your property such as the one pictured.
The planning process is all about the aesthetics of the building and how it fits in within the surrounding area. Planning is a ‘yes you can’ or a ‘no you can&apost;’ type of situation. If you get the latter, a big No No, then you can take it to appeal if you feel there is a viable reason it should have passed. The appeal process gets put in the hands of an independent body.
Whereas building control (building regulation approval) is about the fabric & technical details such as material strength, total U values and sustainability of products. Building control is always a ‘yes you can ’ but demonstrate how you will achieve.
These are two very different departments and need to be treated as such. If planning is required then building regulations need only be applied for once planning has been achieved, in certain situations depending on the scope of work, planning is not required and will come under PD (permitted development). All the boxes need to be ticked in their PD checklist for this to happen, the list can be found on your local planning website, or just Google it!
