Annex - Do I need Planning permission of just the building regulations part?

Write to your local Planning office explaining what you want to do and they should write back confirming whether or not planning permission is required for the works. If the works are permitted development you will have a letter from the planning office confirming this. Should the works be queried at any later date should the property be put on the market or remorgaged etc. you will have it in writing that planning permission is not required.

To be honest it is very difficult to tell whether an extension to a garage would need planning permission without seeing plans or a site location plan. Although the new regs have meant that extending domestic buildings can be done more without planning permission it still depends on many different things.

If I were you I would ring up your local Council, or look on the website, and ask them how you find out if planning permission is needed for what you want to do. They will probably either send you a questionnaire to fill in, like my authority does, or ask you to write in with details including dimensions of the extension. They will then write back to confirm if permission is needed or not.

Planning Officer is correct when he says this letter would not be legally binding and the only true and legal way would be to submit an application for a certificate of lawful development. However this is a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut and although the correct way we receive very little of these applications.

If you were later challenged or queried as to why you didn't apply for permission your letter from the Council confirming planning permission is not needed (if it isn't) will count for something and shows that you have at least tried to find out if permission is needed rather than just building it.

I would be a bit wary of taking advice from a Council approved builder - what are they approved for? Some are only approved for highway works. Plus whilst they may be approved by the Council to carry out domestic extensions etc that does not make them Planning Officers - the new regs are difficult for us to interpret and we deal with them every day.

Why do you want an en-suite - are you intending to convert it into a 'granny' annexe? If not then be very wary of calling it an 'annexe' instead refer to it as a games room if that is what you actually intend using it for. Some 'granny' annexes, which are basically self contained units i.e. have a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom etc are not considered to be ancillary to the dwelling and would need planning permission.

Hiya

I replied to your pm before seeing your updated post here. If this company can deal with drawing up the plans, getting the building regs and building the actual extension then that is good and if they are being recommended by your sister then even better. We deal with a few companies that also do this type of work, one is even run by an ex-building control inspector from our Council. If you are worried about it all being legit then make sure you get the paperwork from the builders showing that building regs have been applied for and at the end that it has been signed off.

However as I said in my pm if you want your mind to be put at rest regarding planning then get a letter from the Council. Just remember than planning is completely different from building regs - planning deals with its appearance, siting, design and materials whereas building regs deals with its construction to make sure it is safe and has all the relevant services.

I would just refer to the building as a games room, if questioned then you can explain the bathroom is needed for occasional guests but as you have no kitchen or anything in there then the Council will probably be happy that it is just a games room.