Converting Conservatory - No Previous Planning

murphne

Hi All,

We recently bought a house that has a conservatory on the back of the house, 4m long and 3m high. We're looking at converting the conservatory by replacing the glazed roof with timber frame and composite tiles, building up a couple of the glazed walls with brickwork etc. Idea being that we'll use it as a kitchen. 

I've made initial contact with the council to check what we need to apply for and I know we'll need to apply for building regulation approval. However, I've also checked the planning portal and there was no planning application or building reg approval made by the previous house owner for the original construction of the conservatory, which they should have done since it's 4m in length. Does this mean I now need to retrospectively apply for planning approval for the conservatory? My worry is I apply for building regs, the council comes to inspect the works and then flags the conservatory does not have permission and stops the work.

Thanks

DOH_a

Is the house terrace, semi-detached or detached?

murphne

It's a semi-detached house.

Silvertabby

Are the foundations up to the job?  How will you manage the electrics/plumbing?

cajef

You need to check carefully whether the foundations will support the work you are proposing to do, a lot of conservatories have inadequate foundations for what you are proposing especially if they were built with no planning or building regs. 

murphne

Silvertabby said:

Are the foundations up to the job?  How will you manage the electrics/plumbing?

cajef said:

You need to check carefully whether the foundations will support the work you are proposing to do, a lot of conservatories have inadequate foundations for what you are proposing especially if they were built with no planning or building regs. 

Our builder's first job will be to expose the existing foundation to check depth, size etc. I know a few structural engineers who i'll run the plans past to ensure the current foundations will cope with the additional weight. If needs be we'll have to look at underpinning. The conservatory is already wired up and our builder is confident of sorting the plumbing for sinks, dishwashers etc.

DOH_a

murphne said:

It's a semi-detached house.

When do you think the conservatory was built, prior to 2008? If remember correctly and prior to 2008, permitted extensions came under volume calculations and post 2008 is when the length, width and height dimensions come into play.

murphne

DOH.a said:

murphne said:

It's a semi-detached house.

When do you think the conservatory was built, prior to 2008? If remember correctly and prior to 2008, permitted extensions came under volume calculations and post 2008 is when the length, width and height dimensions come into play.

I'm not sure exactly of dates, but looking on streetview it was definitely there pre-2008!

DOH_a

So it probably did comply with the old PD rules and tbh, I don’t think the LPA are going to be too bothered if you were just upgrading it.

Although Planning and Building Control departments normally come under the same Council umbrella, they are still very much different departments. Some speak to one another more than others but don’t be too concerned about that.