Looking to buy a bungalow to extend.

annamayjones1991

Hi All,
I'm new to this site and am after a bit of advice.
My partner and I are looking to purchase our first home within the next 6 months. The dream being a bungalow that we could renovate, either go up into the loft or add another story.
We have found one on the market and are looking to view it at some point over the next few days.
What questions would you recommend asking the estate agent, would they be able to tell us if planning permission is likely to be declined/accepted? If they cannot answer this, is it something we're able to contact our local council about even if we do not own the bungalow yet?
Ultimately we don't want to put in an offer for something that we are not going to be able to renovate in the future.
As you can probably tell, we're new to this, and whilst we don't mind slumming it in a property for the next year we just want to be clued up on a few things before we start making decisions, looking at places and hopefully, putting in an offer on something.

Many thanks in advance.

t0rt0ise

You don't mean renovate which means refurbish. You might want to change the title to something like loft conversion or house extension so that you get responses.

ACG

I would not ask the agents anything. It is their job to sell the place.

As a general rule of thumb, have a look to see if any of the neighbours have done the same thing as you want to do. That will give you a good idea as to whether it can be done or not.

I could be wrong but you might also be able to look at previous planning applications in the local area to see if they were accepted or declined maybe?

Slithery

You don't have to own a property to get planning permission, I could apply for permission to build an extension on your house if I wanted to.

annamayjones1991

Thanks all, I can't seem to edit the title. My mistake of bad wording.
Thanks for the advice so far.

glasgowdan

I wouldn't hold much hope of adding a storey...plus the costs for this would be insane. Loft conversion, a side/rear extension including roof space usually works.

As above, research the neighbours and past planning applications. I'd be tempted to buy as big as you can afford in the first instance but I wouldn't do much diy if I got extensions. You may be builders and able to do it cost effectively.

EachPenny

ACG wrote: »

As a general rule of thumb, have a look to see if any of the neighbours have done the same thing as you want to do. That will give you a good idea as to whether it can be done or not.

I could be wrong but you might also be able to look at previous planning applications in the local area to see if they were accepted or declined maybe?

Yes, but only as a very general guide. Previous planning consents on neighbouring properties doesn't give any kind of certainty that another one would be permitted. There's plenty of evidence on this forum alone of the "They've told me 'no', but all the neighbouring houses were allowed..." kind.

annamayjones1991 wrote: »

As you can probably tell, we're new to this, and whilst we don't mind slumming it in a property for the next year we just want to be clued up on a few things before we start making decisions, looking at places and hopefully, putting in an offer on something.

Don't underestimate the problems of living in a property while major renovation/modification work is carried out. However carefully done, you'll end up with dust everywhere and need to adapt to things like having heating or electrics turned off when the builders need to do it, not necessarily when it is convenient to you.

The main issue with loft conversions is the kind of structure supporting the roof. You may need to have the roof removed entirely and everything above ground floor ceiling level rebuilt. You'll only know the scale of the work needed once you've been able to look in the loft.

aneary

Make sure you check for recent extensions rules do change, also look for bunglows with a high pitch then dormers fit in an look nicer rather the box on the top the house.

I've lived through two loft coversions plus total refub downstairs (one with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom the second had four bedrooms 3 bathrooms and a dressing room) oh and my dad did it so we had the whole washing up bowl and microwave for a kitchen for a bit, be prepared for mess and dust and lots of it a dyson will not cope!!

Waterlily24

We bought a bungalow hoping to extend it. We weren't allowed to extend the footprint by more than a third. Eventually they let us extend in the roof which really wasn't what we wanted but was the only way we could get the space we wanted. It took over a year to get the planning etc sorted. We do come under 'countryside' and I think rules are a bit stricter for that.

We did think of pulling the bungalow down but the restrictions for a new build were worse.

We lived in a mobile home on site while the extension was being done as the roof had to come off completely.

pinklady21

You could phone up the planning department and make a general enquiry as to what they might allow. Ask what restrictions there might be in that area - percentage of footprint you can increase by, how close you can go to the boundary, whether you can extend on all sides or just the rear or side etc. Can it be done under Permitted Development rules, or would you require a full planning application? Be prepared for them to direct you to their planning guidance, which is usually on the Council's website. You need to look at the house first and see how it might best lend itself to being extended - where does it sit in the plot - is there enough space to extend and give decent sized rooms and still leave enough garden? Will it make other parts of the property very dark etc etc Best of luck.

pinklady21

Use the "Go Advanced" button on the edit bar to change the subject line of your post - I think!