Dropped kerb

katie_saver

Hello,

I wonder if someone could explain what I need to do to get started on turning my front garden into a drive way. I have looked at the council website and I know I need to apply for planning permission - also I own the ground floor and my neighbour owns the second floor of the house (front garden is mine). I looked at the planning forms but they are pretty complicated - do I need a planner? How much should I expect to pay for a planner? Thank you

diystarter7

Ensure the land belongs to you.
Seek quote for of street parking, ie block paving or other options.
Ask the council how much they charge for xx feet of the dropped kerb.

If you don't own the freehold you will have to contact them and advise the others in the block/house.

Cost, depending on where you live and size of paved area etc, etc will run into several thousand but depends on where you live
as more expensive in the south/London etc.

Call the coucil and ask them for advice on off street parking and anything you not sure about on the forums and how much they charge for dropped kerbs per meter and min cost etc.

Section62

katie_saver said:

I wonder if someone could explain what I need to do to get started on turning my front garden into a drive way. I have looked at the council website and I know I need to apply for planning permission - also I own the ground floor and my neighbour owns the second floor of the house (front garden is mine). I looked at the planning forms but they are pretty complicated - do I need a planner? How much should I expect to pay for a planner? Thank you

You may need planning consent, but the first step (after being sure you have the right to use this land for parking and there are no specific planning restrictions) will be to check to see whether you meet the highways department's requirements for off-street parking (typically published on their website).  They usually specify a minimum size frontage, and requirements like not being near junctions or pedestrian crossings etc.  If you think you meet those requirements then you'd ask the council to do an assessment - they typically charge (several hundred pounds) for this on a non-refundable basis.  If they say you need to apply for planning consent first then do that.

As part of the assessment they may provide a quote for the works, or give you a list of 'approved contractors' and tell you to make your own arrangements.

I've not come across a council which charges 'per [linear] metre' of crossover (let alone feet) because the cost also depends on the depth of the crossover, the type of material, and any special engineering considerations.  So you are unlikely to get a feel for the cost without paying the initial charge for an assessment (and quote).

When/if you get to the stage of needing to apply for planning consent the forms should be relatively easy to complete, and all being well the highways department will have provided you with a plan showing their side of the work, so you only need to add your proposals to a copy of the plan - most of which will be descriptive.  Search the council's planning site for other people's driveway applications and use those as a guide.

twopenny

Section has summed it up.

I first went to Highways, they weren't that pleased with a personal visit but it did get me basic information on what was allowed.

So depends on the road it's coming from. A road trickier than a B road which may not need permission but exit visibility is important.

I went to a local firm that does the work on roads and they dropped the kerb for me.

If you get it done you should get  a certificate given to you or ask for a copy. Keep that safe. When I came to sell my buyers were **** over all sorts to find an excuse to reduce the price and wanted certification that I had done it legally. Fortunately the company was still in existance 15yrs after the work and kindly went into their archives to find a copy for me.

TELLIT01

Nothing to do with the permissions required, but you need to make sure that the occupant of the other flat is aware that they have no right to park there once the work is done.

eddddy

katie_saver said:

I wonder if someone could explain what I need to do to get started on turning my front garden into a drive way

I own the ground floor and my neighbour owns the second floor of the house (front garden is mine).

.

So presumably you own the leasehold of your flat - but you don't own the freehold. So you need to check the terms of your lease.

The front garden might be demised to you - which essentially means you 'own' it. But you still need to see if your lease allows you to convert it into parking. At the very least, you'll probably need your freeholder's consent.

And I guess your neighbour has a right of way over the front garden to reach the front door, so you'll need to ensure that isn't obstructed.

But... it could be that you don't actually 'own' the front garden - it's owned by the freeholder - but you have the exclusive right to use it as a garden. That might be a lot trickier. The freeholder might refuse to let you use it for parking, or ask for a big chunk of money to let you use it for parking.