Moving front doors - end of terraced house

GoshGosh

Hello,
We are looking to buy our first house so it is all very exciting but also mind blowing )
One of the potential houses it is a small end of a terrace house with a side passageway ). Typical two up, two down with a staircase in the middle
The layout is tricky for us but by simply moving the front doors from the front of the house to the side (without any side extension for now) would gives as 2 much more useable and separated spaces.
The front doors at the moment lead straight into the small living room , then there is the small square space under the stairs (which after moving the doors would become a tiny entry hall) and in the back room there is a kitchen with a bathroom in the small extension.
Eventually we would want to do more changes and probably built a larger extension, but for now - a simple repositioning of the doors would do the trick.
Can it be done? Do we need a planning permission? What kind of costs are we talking about (based in West Midlands)?
Thank you!

davidmcn

I think generally planning is needed for alterations to the frontage like this.

edgex

Is the side passageway/entry yours & yours alone?

Mojisola

GoshGosh wrote: »

The front doors at the moment lead straight into the small living room , then there is the small square space under the stairs (which after moving the doors would become a tiny entry hall)

If you plan on removing the current front door (rather than leaving it in place but not using it), will the new one make it difficult to get furniture in and out of the house?

Doozergirl

You need to clarify, for your own peace of mind, your right of access, but you wouldn't need planning permission for the new door.

I would seriously recommend leaving the old door in place (possibly covering it over from the inside only) or getting a VERY good builder to put a window in part of where the original door was, because it runs the risk of looking ridiculous.

FreeBear

Doozergirl wrote: »

You need to clarify, for your own peace of mind, your right of access, but you wouldn't need planning permission for the new door.

But if the house is listed or in a conservation area, permissions would be required. Even if PP is not needed, the work would still need to be signed off by building control.

GoshGosh

Thank you for all the replies!
Not sure how to reply directly to each of the questions (first time posting on here).
The house is not in a conservation area and it’s not a shared access way.
The point about moving furniture is something to consider. And I was worried about the funny look if the house, so have done a quick photoshopping and it actually doesn’t look very weird. But replacing it with a window would be definitely to be considered.
If any alteration to the front required PP, could we just add the side door and use them instead of the front doors?

sheramber

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/14/doors_and_windows/2

Doozergirl

GoshGosh wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies!
Not sure how to reply directly to each of the questions (first time posting on here).
The house is not in a conservation area and it’s not a shared access way.
The point about moving furniture is something to consider. And I was worried about the funny look if the house, so have done a quick photoshopping and it actually doesn’t look very weird. But replacing it with a window would be definitely to be considered.
If any alteration to the front required PP, could we just add the side door and use them instead of the front doors?

Yes. 10 characters.

lincroft1710

Doozergirl wrote: »

Yes. 10 characters.

Just type "yes" then press space bar six times then press full stop, result will be "yes." and will be allowed

need_an_answer

As a ftb I too had grand ideas of changing the first property we bought to make it more "me/us"...then we moved in and just got on with dealing with the cosmetic stuff...and eventually knocked a big hole to install patio doors...but actually that took a good 5 years for everything to come together by which time we outgrew the property and moved on,so the grand plans never really materialised.


If you want to move the front door to the side wall,by all means check out if you can and go ahead with it but my gut feeling is it will cost you more in time,dirt dust and money than you are actually assuming at this early stage of home ownership.

My advice would be spend an extra £5 k now on finding a house that works better for you without making structural or cosmetic frontage changes and move there rather than trying to amend what you've seen.

Its unlikely to add significant value and for some might even put off a potential onward buyer if the work isn't done very sympathetically and in keeping with other properties around it...and by sympathetic that usually means expensive to get it right.

I blame a lot of this on the likes of dear George Clarke who can transform small spaces for next to no budget and minimal dust all in the space of an hour on channel 4....the reality as a ftb is usually a lot different

If you want to post a link to the rightmove listing I'm sure someone will be able to make some more constructive comments by then looking at street view and the floor plans of the property.

Another thing to consider is in moving the front door to the side of the house does that put it into a different street...whilst I'm unsure what effect that has on the address it will confuse the postman and potential leaflet/ chuggers who will target both letterboxes and probably knock on both doors