Planning Permission Refused - Disabled Modifications

princeofpounds

Hi there.


First thing - don't panic. Applications get turned down for all sorts of reasons. Often it's something rather technical and easily fixed.


Sometimes it's just a matter of providing more information and commitments e.g. 'it's a conservation area and you didn't specify the tiles you are going to use'.


Sometimes it is easily resolved with a minor design modification. e.g. 'you specified clear glass on this bathroom window but we want translucent'.


Sometimes it requires a bit more modification but is still fundamentally easy to solve e.g. 'the roofline of your extension is too high but if you lower the pitch slightly it would be ok'.


Sometimes it is more difficult yes, but I would be very surprised if the problem you have described is not solvable with some design changes, either internally or externally; you architect will help with this once they know what the issue is.

I just wondered if whether mums disability could make the council reconsider their decision?

Possibly. Some local authorities have policies specifically related to disability adaptions. If they haven't been applied, or not applied properly, then you might want to look into a new application or an appeal (if the planning officer didn't have it evidenced in the materials, they cannot take it into account). Sometimes they permit deviations from 'normal' planning policy, but sometimes there are also conditions around it. For example, I know someone who was allowed to install a lift which wouldn't normally have been allowed, on condition it was dismantled when they passed on (first-hand anecdote, so don't assume 100% accuracy in the re-telling!).


But this is too limited a way to think about it; complaining about disability is not your only tool to solve the problem - in fact it's probably not the main tool. The design will still be in your hands and the goalposts will be much clearer now it's been through the process once.


I believe that it may be possible to get exemptions from planning application fees for modifications solely related to disability too. If I am right, you might choose to submit the non-contentious plans first, and then make a separate free submission on the contentious issue at a later stage.


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fees-for-planning-applications#exemption-or-concession


Finally, you should also check you the situation regarding permitted development. It's technically possible that you could apply for planning permission for the non-contentious parts of the design, and then use permitted development rights to do the contentious part of the design. It all depends on the details, but strangely you can often do things under permitted development that you cannot technically be awarded under full planning permission, and single-storey extensions are often one of those things. This is a feature, not a bug - the government has known for some time that the planning system is a Stalinist bureaucratic nightmare, and this is one way they could get around it for many smaller projects without a big NIMBY fight over legislation or actually rolling back the power of the state somewhat.


https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/playing-the-planning-system/8683281.article


You may also want to look into grant schemes like this perhaps?


https://www.gov.uk/disabled-facilities-grants




One last thing. If it does turn out to be a more complex situation, you might benefit from you and your architect meeting with the planning officers for pre-application guidance. You normally have to pay for this, but it often enables you to really go into the issues. And whilst the planning officers can't tell you what to do to get permission (as they cannot pre-judge), they can look at new designs and suggest if there are issues, and if a solution under policy is obvious to them, they can drop hints about where you might want to look to design a solution.


Good luck! Let us know how things go as you progress.

BrassicWoman

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