Help with plans - where to start?!

IvyFlood

Please see below floorplan of our house layout and photo from the outside – this area we are wanting to do something with and I am after any advice whether its planning, costs, structural etc.

N.B. The kitchen and dining room have since been knocked through. The floorplan is old but the rest of it is accurate, though the entrance hall isn't as big as it looks!

What we would like to do is essentially use the dead space outside! Behind the wall is a 'sunroom' (family room) which was built in the 80s (the garage was originally separate to the house. We plan to also use this space, the hallway and possibly some of the garage to end up with the following;

1)      Front door/entrance porch moved to be more central

2)      Downstairs toilet/shower/cloakroom

3)      Some form of utility area

4)      A reception room of some kind which could double up as a bedroom though not officially a bedroom

5)      New bigger driveway (can be done at a later stage)

It’s a very odd layout and really difficult to visualise anything! The space is bigger than you think. The only thing I can see is the current garage window becoming a door and being off the new hall!

The inner wall along the kitchen it structural, as is the entrance hall (originally the outside of the house)

Outside, where the current front door is, the boundary can’t come past this as there is a drain which we are reluctant to move due to cost (unless it doesn’t cost as much as we think to move a drain?)

We are a large corner plot and could easily do a two story extension but we’ve decided against that for various reasons.

Any idea on how much all of this could cost roughly? We are planning on 20K funded when we remortgage. Is this realistic?

I think we need planning permission to move the front door but unsure about anything else? As form the outside we are just building a wall round the space, not coming out further. Would we need an architect/structural engineer or would a contractor suffice?

Also, assuming we need plans drawn up before we submit planning permission or should we obtain planning permission first?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to gather information as we are complete novices and no idea where to start!

TIA