Loft conversion advice

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Hi Guys,

I just bought a new house with a very large loft space which i am going to convert. My father in law is a retired joiner and will be doing all the work with me as his labourer but we'll need plans to submit and whilst i was going down the route of an Architect AND structural engineer i have just been told by someone that full plans are not a necessity and that i could simply use the structural engineer to draw up some plans therefore cutting out the cost of the Architect. Does anyone have any recent experience or advice for me? For information there are two or four velux windows being used and no dormers so i've been told i do not need planning permission just building warrants.

Regards

Scott
 
Who told you that you dont require planning permission?

Edit
Sorry.....to expand....if it's the planning department then cool; but if it's Bob down the pub, I'd still get it checked up.
 
Last edited:
Hi Ruth,

It was the planning dept at my local authority. I still require building control warrants etc but no planning permission as i'm not altering the front of the house.

Regards

Scott
 
scottduffy said:
Hi Ruth,

It was the planning dept at my local authority. I still require building control warrants etc but no planning permission as i'm not altering the front of the house.

Regards

Scott
Click to expand...

Excellent :-)
I'm sure someone here will have the right knowledge for you.

Show us pics when it's done :-)
 
It depends on the size of the loft space (in my borough anyway) and if you want to do anything specific (eg extend on the party wall, front doormer etc).

We are doing ours in September under permitted development which our builder told us he could have done the plans for (we got an architect in first...). Permitted development does not need approval is my understanding, you just submit the plans and as long as it complies with the generic rules you get it, whilst full planning application neighbours can object etc and may go before a committee and approval can take longer.
 
I would talk to your local planning department first to see what's allowed in your area as they do vary between local authorities. As far as I know you can do a loft conversion through permitted development, but it's based on the area of the extension: if it's over a certain size then you'll need full planning permission. The measurements are critical and I think they're based on the footprint area of the house. When I had a loft conversion done at my old place, the architect had to redraw the plans as the original length was literally 5cm too long to qualify under permitted development. Be aware, if you've already had the house extended you might have already used up the allowance under permitted development and you'd then need full PP.

BTW don't get sucked into "you must have a party wall agreement" if your house adjoins another. They're quite expensive and aren't strictly necessary if you get on ok with your neighbours, just write a formal letter to them saying you will make good any damage that the building work causes and ask them to sign it.
 
Thanks for this. The architect is coming at 2 pm tomorrow and we got a call yesterday from our solicitor stating the sellers permissions from the council haven't arrived yet for work he's carried out already so I called yesterday to find out what was happening and they've not made their decision yet and will be calling me at 10.30 to advise if they've been passed. We're now in the position our solicitor said at the beginning we would never be in where we have to leave our house tomorrow and might not have a house to move to.
 
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