Building regs drawings/planning fees etc.

thaimeister

Hi All

We've had no luck selling our house and so have decided to "make the best" of what we have. We live in a 2-bed mid terraced single storey cottage in North East England. We are looking to use the deposit we had set aside for a new house to build a double box dormer (front and back) on our roof. We have a 5yo son and need more space. The extension will give us 3 bedrooms upstairs and a much more open plan space downstairs. The type of extension we are looking for is very common in our area so don't see a problem in the way of planning consent etc.

I've never had any major works done before so looking for guidance on what to expect in the way of planning fees, cost of drawings for building regs approval etc. etc.

Any other info much appreciated too

Many Thanks

lincroft1710

Impossible to say as architect's charges and planning and building control fees vary throughout the country. Also as architects can offer more than just drawing up plans, their charges will depend on what you want them to do.

Best look on your council's website for details of planning and BC fees then ask local architects or architectural consultants for estimate of their charges. Of the top of my head you're going to be looking at a 4 figure sum.

thaimeister

Thank you

I've found the planning application fees and have the builder coming out on Thursday to give an initial estimate for the job so will discuss the other fees with him. I know they have an architect who they work with so should be able to give me an idea on the other fees too

Thanks

cybervic

If someone in your street has done it recently, you may be able to search council's website for their application/drawings. You can also contact their architect which might charge a very reasonable rate because they've already done it in similar house.

thaimeister

Thanks for that. There are 5 other houses at my end of the street with dormer extensions but they were built before I moved in 11.5 years ago. Nothing recently.

tacpot12

Would it be worth talking to your builder to see what level of detail they need in the plans, over and above what Building Control need? This could save you some money or put you in touch with an architect/plans drawer that the builder has worked with before and knows.

jimmy_cricket

My advice would be to get a few architects in. I wanted a straightforward side extension, nothing fancy. One came in at nearly four grand and he sent out bad vibes. Another was just over 1k and should have happily gone with him, the one I went for is charging my 600. Didn’t go purely on price but he is semi retired so has a lot of time, has a keen interest and has been incredibly patient throughout the process. Nothing is too much trouble.

thaimeister

Just a little update. Architect was great. He advised we wouldn't get planning for a dormer at the front as less than 50% of the homes in our street have them already. Apparently this is strictly enforced by our local council. He did us two schemes, one of which I would never have even thought of but still gives us 2x decent sized rooms even with the front being velux windows with a dormer at the rear.

The architects fee's were £400 to come out and do a survey, take measurements, discuss our options and draw up the plans. He also submitted our plans to building regs approval at our local council. The fee payable to the council was £185 on top. All was done within a week of him coming out.

Should have the building regs approval back within 4 weeks

teneighty

£400, absolute bargain. You got a cracking deal there.