Shall I continue with the planning application?

sam1970

Apologies if this is the wrong forum. Few months ago we decided that we would like to extend our house instead of moving to a bigger one. We asked an architect to do the drawings and now he submitted to the council for the planning permission. The problem is that couple of weeks ago I managed to secure a well paid job abroad and we are going to move overseas next summer so it is unlikely that we will build the extension. I have already paid half of the architect costs (£1500) and the application fees (£180) and will have to pay the remaining £1500 for the building regs drawings (which he has not done yet) + another £400 to the council.

My question is ...shall I cut my losses and stop here or shall I continue and obtain the planning permission and the building regs.. I know that the permission will be valid for 3 years but we are unlikely to come back before 5 years....will appreciate any ideas

MX5huggy

Round my way a planning application is valid for 5 years. I thought that was national. If it's 5 or 3 that's how long you have till you must make a start for the application not to lapse. Starting is generally accepted as digging and pouring foundations then you have for ever to finish.

You don't need to apply for building regs until you start. You can use a building notice which costs more but you don't need the building reg drawings. Not that I recommend that route when you actually want to build but would save you money on starting costs.

Master_Blaster

£1500 for architect fees and he has not done the drawings yet.:eek:

sam1970

Master_Blaster wrote: »

£1500 for architect fees and he has not done the drawings yet.:eek:

Sorry but i did not make it clear..he is paid in stages and his total cost will come actually to £2400 but it is quite big extension. He is very good and we are happy with his work so I dont mind paying him the full amount but I am wondering on the best way to keep the permission valid for few years. We are thinking of renting the house out while away but sometimes think that selling with the planning permission for extension might be attractive for buyers

Master_Blaster

sam1970 wrote: »

Sorry but i did not make it clear..he is paid in stages and his total cost will come actually to £2400 but it is quite big extension. He is very good and we are happy with his work so I dont mind paying him the full amount but I am wondering on the best way to keep the permission valid for few years. We are thinking of renting the house out while away but sometimes think that selling with the planning permission for extension might be attractive for buyers

Get the permission and it is valid for five years. I paid £500 lat year.

sam1970

Is that national policy? I was told it will only be valid for 3 years...The amount of money is not big in the large scheme of things but I would rather if we dont have to go through the same work again in few years especially with the risk that regulations might change and what is allowed now might become un-allowable

Master_Blaster

sam1970 wrote: »

Is that national policy? I was told it will only be valid for 3 years...The amount of money is not big in the large scheme of things but I would rather if we dont have to go through the same work again in few years especially with the risk that regulations might change and what is allowed now might become un-allowable

I think it is never know it to be anything other.

DigForVictory

Clarify a few things -
How long is the planning permission valid for?
Do you mean to sell up?
Would the extension 'pay for itself' if done before you left & you sold?
Would it add value to the rental were it done before you go?

I think you are dead right to be careful that building codes can change, so I think it's really a do or no do issue, & then keep or sell.

JournalGirl

Planning permission is normally 3 years

sam1970

DigForVictory wrote: »

Clarify a few things -
How long is the planning permission valid for?
Do you mean to sell up?
Would the extension 'pay for itself' if done before you left & you sold?
Would it add value to the rental were it done before you go?

I think you are dead right to be careful that building codes can change, so I think it's really a do or no do issue, & then keep or sell.

- The permission is valid for 3 years as far as I know (unless you do some of the work then it will be valid forever.

- We are hoping to rent the house so we can come back to it in 5 years

- We will not recover all our money if we build the extension and sell. We were planning the extension for our own use rather than to increase the house value.

- It will add value to the rental but I dont really want to fit a new £20000 kitchen for tennant to use !!!

Poppy9

Why don't you just ask the Architect to put on hold. He's done half the work, so that's yours and you can come back to him in 5 years time and he can finish the job. Building regs could change in the intervening years plus you might mull over the extension and after living in a different house for years decide to alter the extension as you have new ideas.