Is it difficult to get permission for a dropped kerb?

davidmcn

FTBAngst wrote: »

The area is so busy

If by that you mean the on-street parking is full, then I doubt you'd get consent (as that means nobody could ever park in front of your driveway again). Certainly round my way the only driveways are those consented to (or got away with) from years ago, not a chance now.

EachPenny

FTBAngst wrote: »

I’m viewing a house tomorrow and there’s no driveway. I’ve got some quotes for putting one in and the 5 people I spoke to didn’t say anything about not being able to get a dropped kerb and said it would be included in the price of the drive. But today acouple of my colleagues have said they have or know people who have struggled to get permission.

Councils usually require the use of approved contractors to carry out work on the public highway (the approval usually includes things like checking for third-party insurance, and the use of appropriately trained/qualified staff).

You would be incredibly lucky if the first 5 people you've spoken to all just happen to be approved contractors.

More likely they are people who aren't especially worried about following rules (e.g. paying tax, observing consumer rights, insurance, health and safety, etc...)

If you do go ahead with the purchase and want to put the driveway in, then I personally wouldn't consider any of these 5 people suitable to carry out any work on the property. (they should at the very least have told you that you may need permission).

If the Highway Authority discover you have had unlawful work carried out on the road you may find yourself in court, or expected to pay for the council to dig everything up and redo it properly.

stator

foxy-stoat wrote: »

You cannot apply for a dropped kerb until there is a driveway or hardstanding. So you have to buy the property, get the drive installed upto the boundary then apply for the dropped kerb.

There is a chance that you wont get the permission, so if a driveway is a deal breaker maybe look for another property with one already.

For our council you can't get planning permission for a driveway until you have a dropped kerb agreement in place. Part of the dropped kerb agreement will involve reviewing your plans for the driveway.

FTBAngst

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/streets-travel/dropped-kerbs

According to this, in bristol you can hire any contractor as long as they fulfill the requirements. Is it’s still unlikely all 5 of the ones I contacted have those?

Having said that, the street I’m looking at does require planning permission to alter the highway and none of the 5 said anything about that

Mojisola

FTBAngst wrote: »

According to this, in bristol you can hire any contractor as long as they fulfill the requirements. Is it’s still unlikely all 5 of the ones I contacted have those?

Ask to see their highway excavation licence -
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/roads-and-highway-licences/highway-excavation-licence

Alan2020

Depends, ours was approved but neighbours was rejected. Reason was ours was immediately after an onstreet parking bay opposite while neighbours had a bigger gap. Ours would not result in a potential loss of on street space his would

FTBAngst

Thanks for the replies. Saw the house today. There actually is off street parking in the form of a garage around the back (wasn’t on the estate agents listing). The house needs total renovation and there’s was a bulging crack in the wall of one of the upstairs bedrooms so other things to consider now!

kates08

When we did it the conditions were min size of 4.8m long and 2.4m wide with no trees or street furniture (e.g telegraph pole, lamp post) within 1m. Also extra assessment needed on A and B roads or within a certain distance of a junction.

We had to apply for the licence before any work was started but then had to have the driveway finished before the dropped kerb was put in.

goodwithsaving

The claim about requiring a hardstanding prior to getting consent is not true of all councils. I applied to mine and in the sketches I wrote that I wasn't going to spend the money digging up the garden if the dropped kerb wasn't authorised.
I used my own contractor which the council then approved, and they did the whole lot - hardstanding and kerb - at the same time.
Not cheap work, and the application was quite expensive too but well worth it.

zagubov

To the OP:
you've got plenty to think about, so good luck with everything.

For other readers of this forum:
definitely don't take it for granted that dropping a kerb is easy or cheap.

Many councils are getting more reluctant to allow it, and it's difficult to keep track of the pressures that make this happen.

Oh and if they did allow it, we could be talking thousands of pounds (at least in London).