Self Buid Question....

Chorlie

Not sure where to ask this this question, so sorry if it's in the wrong place....

If there is a plot of land with an old bungalow on it of say 100sq meters, under the planning guidelines this could be increased by 30%, so say therefore 130sq meters for a new build in its place.

However if it was to be replaced with a house is this 130sq meters the footprint of the house (the ground floor area) or is it the total floor area of the house (ground and upstairs added together).

Thanks

theartfullodger

When you asked that question of your local planning department, with rough drawings, what did they say, please??

Chorlie

theartfullodger wrote: »

When you asked that question of your local planning department, with rough drawings, what did they say, please??

I haven't asked; I was trying to find the answer before deciding if it's worth making an offer on the bungalow...

eddddy

Chorlie wrote: »

I haven't asked; I was trying to find the answer before deciding if it's worth making an offer on the bungalow...

Many local planning departments have a Duty Planning Officer, who you can 'drop-in' to see on specific days/times.

If there is one for your area, take along photos, sketches etc and ask them - before you make your offer.

Hoploz

Since you mention 30% I assume you, like me, are in a Green belt area?

I can tell you that in my area, you can extend up to an additional 30% floor area. But you can rebuild the total current floor area + 30% as ground floor footprint and do the same again on the first floor.

Daft, isn't it?!

However, this is not a national rule - I understand the next village along from here has different guidelines. So you need to check with your local duty planning officer, as has already been suggested.

Chorlie

Hoploz wrote: »

Since you mention 30% I assume you, like me, are in a Green belt area?

I can tell you that in my area, you can extend up to an additional 30% floor area. But you can rebuild the total current floor area + 30% as ground floor footprint and do the same again on the first floor.

Daft, isn't it?!

However, this is not a national rule - I understand the next village along from here has different guidelines. So you need to check with your local duty planning officer, as has already been suggested.

Yes it's Green Belt and someone told me ages ago that you can add 30% but I didn't know if it's the total floor area or ground floor footprint, because like you said I can add an upstairs and go well over 130sq meters.

I didn't know that each area had different rules....

Davesnave

Chorlie wrote: »

I didn't know that each area had different rules....

Someone may not obtain permission to turn a bungalow into a two storey property where I live.

When we put in a proposal to do that, the officer assigned to the case advised us that he was against it, due to the visual impact on the rural environment.

This was interesting, because at a meeting with his predecessor a few years before, we were advised that bungalows looked 'out of place in the countryside' so a proposal to change ours to a house would probably gain approval.

There was a record of this meeting, so, somewhat grudgingly, our plans were passed. They weren't the best of plans, however, so we scrapped them and did something else.

I think, perhaps, local authorities make up their own rules!

Hoploz

Around here it tends to be bungalows converted to 1.5 storeys so you have the floor area but some sloping ceilings. it's the bungalows which have the large rambling plots.

I have spotted one recent build where they got Planning Permission to extend to max out the 30% then they used Permitted Development to build up, essentially a loft conversion, then they put in another application to add some dormers and bits, can't remember the details but there were several applications within a period of a couple of months, they really worked PD to their advantage.

They started out with a semi-derelict small bungalow, ended up with a pretty large 1.5 storey house worth £1m having paid £500k for it. We viewed it but were too scared to tackle the job!

We have since had the architect firm they used round to ours for some ideas as our house has had its 30% but we still have PD to exploit haha!

Waterlily24

We had a similar problem. They let us extend the footprint by slightly more than 30% and after a lot of meetings they finally agreed to let us go up as well so we now have a chalet bungalow. The original bungalow was L shaped and the roof wasn't high enough to put rooms in. The bungalow was squared off (there was a flat roofed conservatory there before) and the extension was done so a complete new roof was needed. The roof was very high because of the dimensions (another argument with the planners lol) and in the end they let us put 3 bedrooms and a bathroom up there.


We come under countryside not sure if that's the same as green belt.