Dropped Kerb Questions

elspeth79

We've seen a great house with one flaw. Although there is a driveway in existence (and has existed for some years) the kerb has never been dropped. An additional complication is the house fronts onto a b road so planning permission would be required.

Although nearly every other house on the road has a similar driveway I'm not sure whether planning permission would be granted as there is no room to turn.

Would you
a) walk away
b) query likelihood of planning permission being granted with local authority (even though that is advice only)
c) ask current owners to apply for planning permission and offer only if that permission is granted
d) apply for planning permission ourselves at a cost of 150 and offer only if that permission is granted

It's a great house, but without the driveway it's not for us.

Thrugelmir

elspeth79 wrote: »

Although nearly every other house on the road has a similar driveway I'm not sure whether planning permission would be granted as there is no room to turn.

Not an issue. Reverse into the driveway in accordance with the Highway code.

G_M

Depends how important a dropped kerb is to you!

Getting a dropped kerb requires Highways consent and some costs.

Talking to the Planners and Highways departments wouls seem the starting point.

Whether you choose to make the purchase conditional on either you or the vendors (unlikely to agree) getting the required consents is up to ypu.

mutter

If other houses in the road have driveways, the prededent has been set and it would be hard to refuse you.
A quick call to the local Planning Department would be a good first step, then it's really up to you whether you go down route c or d.

The council would probably be able to give you an idea of the cost of dropping the kerb too, as it's likely you'll have to either pay them to do it or use one of their approved contractors.

Davesnave

When I were a lad, all the posh folk wi cars used to use a couple o'wood blocks to get over t' kerb. Aye, none of this dropped kerb nonsense then!

tommie1shunt

Very flat low kerb, leave things as is, high kerb, I would think about it very rough price is £600 if you drive a land rover no problem, but dainty little Ferrari wheels........

pararct

Should be no issues because it is on a 'B' road! They only real show stoppers are when you have a bus stop in the way or you are looking to drop a kerb within 10 metres of a road junction.
I had mine done last November cost in the region of £950 and they did it in a day (a morning if you count the time they were sat in their truck reading the paper). Seemed most of the time they were waiting for material to be delivered.
Mine is a council in Lancs yours may or may not be more expensive.

Expect to pay substantially more if a tree or lamppost has to be moved.

If you have the work done yourselves (with council permission) they will still want to inspect it and will charge you (handsomely) for this. In practical terms it makes sense to get them to do it themselves as if there are any issues in the future you have a point of contact.

Cash-Cow_3

As it is a B road planning permission is required. You can ask the planning department and highways for informal advice but that does not guarantee permission will be granted even if they support it at officer level as some applications will be determined at council committee by councillors. You can of course appeal any council decision to the planning inspectorate if PP is refused but that takes a few months from start to finish.

My advice would make the sale condition on PP being granted but speak informally to council officers first.

Getting planning permission for a new access is possible onto a B road but just because the neighbours have it doesn't mean you can. There could be many factors against it such as lack of turning space and the amount of visibility.

Have you measured visibility - this is normally the show stopper? If you want to measure visibility get your car (reverse in if no turning space) and sit so that the very front of your car is at the edge of the carriageway. Then see how far you can see in both directions along the near side channel. Measure this distance. Typically for a 30mph road you will need 43 metres visibility in both directions. Different Councils have different levels of visibility requirements but most these days stick with 43m for a 30mph road.

Cash-Cow_3

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Not an issue. Reverse into the driveway in accordance with the Highway code.

Wrong an access is required to enter a property legally.

Cash-Cow_3

mutter wrote: »

If other houses in the road have driveways, the prededent has been set and it would be hard to refuse you.
A quick call to the local Planning Department would be a good first step, then it's really up to you whether you go down route c or d.

The council would probably be able to give you an idea of the cost of dropping the kerb too, as it's likely you'll have to either pay them to do it or use one of their approved contractors.

Two wrongs don't make a right. If it is an unsafe access it is likely to be refused even if neighbours have an unsafe access themselves.

elspeth79

The highways side of it is not a problem, I know how much (roughly) that costs in this area and it will be factored in to any offer we make. Kerb is high, not getting this done properly is not an option.

The concern is buying a property and then finding out later we could never get planning permission to drop the kerb.

In terms of visibility the road is straight, at the boundary to the property there is a wide verge and then a wide pavement (car width) before the kerb, no lampposts, bus stops etc to consider. Speed limit is 40mph

It's only the turning aspect that may be a problem, am aware that past precedent is not always considered with new access and some aspects get more stringent all the time.

At the moment I'm thinking the option of querying the planning permission with the council is best and proceeding if they indicate the decision would be favourable. The worst case scenario in my mind is if we bought and planning permission was refused we'd have to alter the driveway to accommodate turning - front garden is large so scope for doing this.