Garage conversion retrospective planning

Furts

the_r_sole wrote: »

Tbh this is a perfect example of why it's not always best to take planning advice from builders, a lot of them rely on anecdotal knowledge (although some are very knowledgeable)

Whilst I fully back this sentiment is is being very harsh on the building industry. This is a classic example of horses for courses. Nobody goes to a Planning Officer and says "build me a wall" nor do they go a Building Inspector and say "dig me those foundations". So why do consumers expect Planning and Buildings Regulation knowledge to come from a builder? To make matters worse, this is before one asks about charges - Planning and Buildings Regulations come at a cost yet many consumers expect this knowledge FOC from builders.

I cannot comment on specifics but whilst OP has confidence in their builder the oversites on Planning and Building Regulations does not inspire confidence in me.

parking_question_chap

Sounds like your permitted development rights got removed when the overall residential development got permission. Given that your rights were removed for a reason, ie to try to remove parking issues, its probably not going to be looked at favourably by the officer, they will not want to set a precident.

macman

I don't suppose your informed your buildings insurer or mortgage provider either?
If you failed to get building regs approval then that can't be easily be done retrospectively, so when you come to sell and have no documentation, you may have to pay for an indemnity policy for the purchaser.

Davesnave

Did you take any photographs while doing the conversion? My BCO is pretty laid-back, but BCOs can change, so I photographed every stage of our garage conversion so that I could prove what had happened to the floor and walls re insulation.

Anything that shows the build in progress might help avoid invasive 'surgery' to prove construction, if you get that far.

casper_g

What is at the side of your driveway? You would only need to widen it by 38 cm to get two full size (2.4m) parking spaces side by side. I bet you could already get two cars next to each other in reality, if you were careful and they weren't great big 4x4s.

Furts

casper_g wrote: »

What is at the side of your driveway? You would only need to widen it by 38 cm to get two full size (2.4m) parking spaces side by side. I bet you could already get two cars next to each other in reality, if you were careful and they weren't great big 4x4s.

It is more complicated than this. All builders, developers and councils know the 4.8x2.4 dimensions go back to at least the 1970s and cars were far smaller then. In reality these bays are woeful sizes for modern cars so 4.8x2.4 is deemed the absolute minimum. There is nothing to stop anyone allowing more space, within reason, and I have done this on my drive.

Go measure the bays at a Costco and you will see what enlightened companies offer their members. Then compare that with Tesco and you will see a difference!

owen_money

Doozergirl wrote: »

A lot of newer builds do count the garage as a parking space. It's a developer scam really, as it's hard to park in tandem and most people use their garage to store stuff they never use.

The OP said they were a heavy bike user, not sure they have a tandem?

summer1978

Davesnave wrote: »

Did you take any photographs while doing the conversion? My BCO is pretty laid-back, but BCOs can change, so I photographed every stage of our garage conversion so that I could prove what had happened to the floor and walls re insulation.

Anything that shows the build in progress might help avoid invasive 'surgery' to prove construction, if you get that far.

Yes I have pictures of each stage of build and have already informed my insurance and mortgage company.

summer1978

casper_g wrote: »

What is at the side of your driveway? You would only need to widen it by 38 cm to get two full size (2.4m) parking spaces side by side. I bet you could already get two cars next to each other in reality, if you were careful and they weren't great big 4x4s.

Yes I think I could but I have no wiggle room to add the extra cm the council require.

macman

Furts wrote: »

It is more complicated than this. All builders, developers and councils know the 4.8x2.4 dimensions go back to at least the 1970s and cars were far smaller then. In reality these bays are woeful sizes for modern cars so 4.8x2.4 is deemed the absolute minimum. There is nothing to stop anyone allowing more space, within reason, and I have done this on my drive.

Go measure the bays at a Costco and you will see what enlightened companies offer their members. Then compare that with Tesco and you will see a difference!

I'd just assumed that Costco based their parking bays on US sizing?