Improving or expanding a home is often cheaper than moving the home completely, but getting a building permit can put off many people. there is.
According to a recent study by Santander, UK homeowners have applied for more than 60,000 homesexpansionand conversions during the first coronavirus blockade, a trend. it is continuing.
The blockade of Covid has increased the amount of time spent at home, so two out of five families are now submittinghome improvement plans.
However, doing big work at home, such as extensions, can be time consuming and complicated.
Depending on the scale of your work, you will often need to apply for a building permit from your local government.
However, if you are willing to work within certain limits, you may be able to do it without applying for abuilding permitat all.
Mark Morris, a planning consultant for Urbanist Architecture, who specializes in helping people build and improve their homes, uses the so-calledlicensed development rights. He said he could avoid having to formally apply. Permission to build.
What are the development rights granted?
Permitted development rights are rules that apply to UK homes and allow improvements or extensions without the need to apply for a building permit.
Not only does it allow developers to turn offices and other buildings intohomes, but it also allows homeowners to build small extensions. The
mark states:
"This is because some parliaments have very restricted rules about people expanding their homes, but the development rights granted are all over the UK. Applies to. "
Who can use them?"
"If you own a house and it needs to be the entirehouse-permitted development rights probably apply to you" mark
The most common exception to this is some residential estates built after the 1980s.
Some of these have provisions in the certificate that exclude the granted development rights.
Housing in protected areas, such as areas where the beauty of nature stands out, may also be excluded.
"If a particular protection rule applies to your area of residence, you must first check the rule." mark.
And if you live in aflat, the rules do not apply even if it is a flat on the first floor.
What can I create?
If you live in a tiered or semi-detached house, the licensed development rights will extend the house from back to outside by 3 meters and the height of a single house within 4 meters. can do.
If you live in a privatehouse, you can go 4 meters behind and 4 meters high.
"But from a design perspective, you can't do anything too interesting or creative," Mark said.
"You can put a fold or sliding door behind, but the new structure should look like it belongs to the rest of the house.
" But { If you're happy with the size and appearance of the 69}, you can just ride and assemble it. ”
For other home renovations that can be performed under licensed development rights, There are the following:
- Construction of porch less than 3 meters square
- Change of use such as loft modification, garage modification and basement modification
- Knockdown of inner wall, etc. Internal modifications
- Installation of energy generators such as solar panels (excluding wind turbines)
- Installation of satellite plates and installation of antennas
- Addition of loft orDormer window
Is there a limit to what I can do?
All permitted development requirements apply to the first house built.
Or, in the case of an old house, the state as of July 1, 1948.
Space added by the previous owner of the house counts towards the allowed development quota. When buying a new home, wipe the slate clean.
In other words, if you buy a house that has already been expanded, you cannot expand it further without permission.
What if I want to make it bigger?
However, you can double the size of the extension by consulting with your neighbors.
"That is, 6 meters for a terraced or semi-detached house and 8 meters for a detached house," Mark explained.
This is not a building permit, but you need to go to:
Neighborwill challenge within 21 days and the local government will grant permission within another 21 days.
Then you will receive a "legal development certificate". It can take up to 8 weeks to be issued and cost £ 103. At this point, you can start a larger expansion project.
"People usually oppose something that affects them, usually because they are interfering with their windows," Mark said.
"Light can be lost. In that case, you need to think again.
" But if your neighbor already has a big extension, you You'll probably be allowed to do that. "
You need to make sure you're doing it.
Even if you're just building a small extension, it may be worth signing off first.
"We recommend checking with the council first, just checking the plans and dimensions," Mark said.
There is no legal obligation to do this, butwill work around the problem later
"The advantage is that the extension documentation is available. I will sell the house later, "he said.
To do this, run the same process as for a larger extension. A "legal development certificate" proves that the plan is appropriate.
Here you can find the municipality where you need to go to
What if I make a mistake?
"If you don't follow the rules, the council may eventually ask you to demolish what you made," Mark said. ..
"That's why you have to be careful."
Also,can upset his neighborsand cause nausea with them. ..
Mark suggested consulting the architect to make sure your dimensions are correct. And he is a reputable architect who understands the rules and does similar projects.