Proby521

iTrader: (1)

Hello all,

Well, it's time to make the house a little bigger know we have an extra member in the family, and I want a garage on the side, kitchen at the back of the garage, and a bedroom above the two. I know when I get an architect in, he will no doubt give me the ups/downs, but I'm curious. I've heard that you can NOT go flush on the front of the house nowadays up on the second storey, and that it must sit 2/3 foot back from the front of the house. Anyone know if this is right?? There are more than one houses on my estate (inc one in my cul de sac) that have gone flush to the front of the house on the second storey. Is there different rules when it comes to semi-detached or detached. Or maybe it just depends on the local council/area.
Hopefully I can get plans passed off with it flush upstairs, that way it can follow the original roofline, and give a little more room up there.

Proby

LG John

I'm a planning officer:

Whether you require planning permission or not varies between scotland, england and wales. You'll need to ring your local planning authority to establish that (a two storey extension almost certainly will need permission).

What is acceptable will vary from local authority to local authority so you'll need to sound out the local planning department on that one as well. They may have a policy regarding extensions being set back - just ask

richardg

had the same comments from our lpa when i spoke to them about our extension. application by previous owner had been refused with particular reference to the continuing facade which would have been created. if you find that this is an issue (ie that there is a policy), why not consider a dormer? if the planners feel that your initial proposal can't be supported, sit down and have a think about it - there are ways around most planning/design issues. some will mean compromising on cost or useable space so you may not get exactly what you have set out to achieve

skoobidude

We are having our 3-bed detatched extended at the moment.
The brief is:-
Knock kitchen wall through into garage to create one large open plan kitchen/diner incorporating WC room.
Extend upper floor bedroom to over existing garage creating a larger bedroom c/w ensuite.
Build new separate garage (1m wider than original) to allow driver to easily get in/out of car!

I've done all the design work myself and have had no issues with Planning regarding going flush with the front and rear of the house. My neighbour commented on the same thing. I would guess it depends on the plot.

Nick

Proby521

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, looks like its down to the local authority then. I assume I can ask them about it exact constraints BEFORE I have some plans drawn up. Will get the ball rolling now.

Drunken Bungle Whore

Restictive Covenants!!! Check your deeds for them! We were going to buy a house that had extensions - it had all the planning permits it needed, but when we read the deed it became apparent that there were restrictive covenants that specifically banned the building of extensions.

The local council don't check your deeds before granting permissions - you must do that yourself. If you don't - or go ahead and build anyway you will have 2 main problems. 1. The people who wrote the restrictive covenants into the deed could ask you to remove the extension ( or pay them money!) and 2. It will be almost impossible to sell. As I said we were going to buy a house.... Technically you could get indemnity insurance - but it's not a great selling point!

It's more unusual in modern houses - but this one had them and it was only built in 1972!