From Bland to Grand: Planning & Costs

Planning Permission

It is possible to radically alter the external appearance of a house without having to apply for planning permission by making use of what are known as Permitted Development (PD) rights (visit planningportal.gov.uk for details). It is always worth checking with your local authority, but on most houses in England you can add a porch, demolish unwanted parts, convert the attic or an integral garage or store, and subject to certain design criteria you can even add single or even two storey extensions to the rear, and single storey extensions to the side, all without needing planning permission. “Perhaps the most flexible of the recently enhanced PD rights relates to outbuildings, such as garages, home offices, playrooms and other ancillary accommodation built within your garden,” says planning consultant and author of The Planning Game, Ken Dijksman. “These rights exist even in green belts and Conservation Areas and allow up to half your plot to be developed.” Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own similar PD rights legislation.

Although there is great scope to remodel and build outbuildings without having to apply for planning permission, these rights are subject to various detailed criteria and they do not apply to buildings which are statutorily protected (listed) or where PD rights have been restricted or removed. The alternative to using PD is submitting a planning application. The fee for extension to, or alteration of, a private dwelling house is currently £150. Listed buildings will also require listed building consent for which there is no fee.

It is important to remember that planning permissions do not normally supercede each other — several can exist on one site at the same time and it is up to you which ones you want to use. To get the most out of a site, and overcome planning restrictions in some sensitive locations, such as designated areas (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, green belt, Area of Great Landscape Value etc.) it can make sense to make a series of planning applications, followed by the use of PD rights. “On one project we are working on at the moment we have deliberately kept the rear wall free of any extension as we know we can add four metres across the back later under PD,” says Yolande Hess of Back to Front Exterior Design (backtofrontexteriordesign.com).

In some instances a remodelling scheme may be viewed by the planners in a more positive light than a replacement dwelling, meaning you can achieve a larger footprint. “If you do want to create something of architectural merit and that isn’t completely mainstream, the local planning authority often looks more kindly on applications that involve the remodelling of an existing unsightly building, rather than the proposal for a completely new building,” says Andrew Whiting of HÛT Architecture (hutarchitecture.com).

Cost and schedule

Remodelling costs will vary according to the nature and extent of the works, the specification of fixtures and finishes, and the location of the property due to geographical differences in labour costs. The best starting point is to look at the cost of other people’s projects and to talk to builders and architects who have experience of similar schemes.

Only once you have drawings and a specification can you start to develop anything like a detailed budget, and at this stage you could use a quantity surveyor to calculate costs, or get contractors to quote. An added uncertainty is that you are dealing with an existing building with potentially hidden problems, so any quote will include provisional sums, which are the contractor’s best guess at costs, but not the final figure. In any contract you need to agree how such costs are to be calculated, such as net cost plus a fixed margin for management. You need to make sure you have a contingency of 10-15 per cent in your budget for this. Your build schedule should also take these factors into account.

“It can be very hard to accurately budget for a refurbishment project as you will not know what you are dealing with until you have started work and uncovered the situation with the building,” says Andrew Whiting of HÛT Architecture. “It’s the same with regard to the programme — be prepared and make an allowance for remedial works.”

Read more:

• From Bland to Grand: Post-War Renovations
• From Bland to Grand: Assessing Potential
• From Bland to Grand: Case Studies