How to fund garage conversion?

cannugec5

Yes, I am in Scotland. 

As several of you have questioned the permissions required I have now formally sought advice from the local building and planning department. 

My interpretation of the guidance was that no permission is required as the garage is already integral to the house - with an  internal door accessing it and bedrooms above. 

However, I certainly don’t want to break any rules so will await their response. 

Doozergirl

cannugec5 said:

Yes, I am in Scotland. 

As several of you have questioned the permissions required I have now formally sought advice from the local planning department. 

My interpretation of the guidance was that no permission is required as the garage is already integral to the house - with an  internal door accessing it and bedrooms above. 

However, I certainly don’t want to break any rules so will await their response. 

The building regulations are different.  They are looked after by Building Control, not Planning and that deals with the quality of the actual build, not the principle of doing it.  

Two sets of rules, two different departments at your local authority.  

grumbler

cannugec5 said:

As several of you have questioned the permissions required I have now formally sought advice from the local planning department. 

Surprisingly, the 'very competent and experienced relative' didn't tell you this.

cannugec5

Doozergirl said:

The building regulations are different.  They are looked after by Building Control, not Planning and that deals with the quality of the actual build, not the principle of doing it.  

Two sets of rules, two different departments at your local authority.  

Sorry. 

I have edited my post. 

It is the ‘Building and Planning’ department of my local authority. 

Mistral001

I doubt if this relative fully knows what he is letting himself in for.  You could end up with a nice conversion and a very annoyed relative. 

cannugec5

Before going too far down the road of financing, you should check you don't need planning consent.  

Yes, we have looked into that. No planning permission or building warrant required, but I do appreciate other eyes/ view points looking at this in case we have missed something. 

Ok .  Hands up! I was wrong! 

I had totally misinterpreted the guidance. 

Clarification from the Building and Planning department is that a building warrant IS required. 

Application now submitted. 

In completing the application I had to do a thorough breakdown of costs , and believe the project will not be quite as costly as I originally feared. ( However I’ve just spent £250 on the application!) 

Relative totally knows what he is letting himself in for. He lives in England but has experience of staying with us many times with the problems of weather restrictions and accessing materials and tradesmen in rural Scotland! 

So, now that is all sorted. How best use my credit cards and the 0% offers to fund the project? 

grumbler

cannugec5 said:

Before going too far down the road of financing, you should check you don't need planning consent.  

Yes, we have looked into that. No planning permission or building warrant required, but I do appreciate other eyes/ view points looking at this in case we have missed something. 

So, now that is all sorted. How best use my credit cards and the 0% offers to fund the project? 

If the only cards you have are those two that you mentioned in the first post and they aren't from the same provider*, then first use the 'money transfer' card for purchases and transfer the balance(s) to the 'balance transfer' one. When the latter is full, you need more money, and if the money transfer offer is still in place, make a money transfer to your current account.

And don't forget to set/change the monthly payments to 'minimum' by a DD.

* https://www.finder.com/uk/who-owns-your-credit-card.

Section62

cannugec5 said:

Before going too far down the road of financing, you should check you don't need planning consent.  

Yes, we have looked into that. No planning permission or building warrant required, but I do appreciate other eyes/ view points looking at this in case we have missed something. In completing the application I had to do a thorough breakdown of costs , and believe the project will not be quite as costly as I originally feared. ( However I’ve just spent £250 on the application!) 

Relative totally knows what he is letting himself in for. He lives in England ...

Make sure he knows the requirements for a building warrant in Scotland, and doesn't try building you an 'English' garage conversion.  Like Doozergirl, I believe the requirements in Scotland are significantly more onerous than the English ones.

cannugec5

Update:
The conversion is done, finished and we have moved into the new bedroom. 

But… 
Despite employing an architect to help us through the Building Warrant application, we don’t have one! It’s not been declined it’s just the architect has been an absolute disaster and never completed the application with the required information. The planning officer phoned  me back in April ‘23 about the standard of the first plans I submitted querying whether they really were drawn up by Mr Architect. They were. Planning said it would easier to deal directly with Mr Architect (Mr A) so I agreed to that.
But then nothing. 

He has ignored emails, not answered phone calls (and no answerphone service) and been nigh on impossible to get hold of in person in his office. Mr A is a one man band - no secretary or admin staff. We told him last year that we were on a time constraint. The builder was available Dec ‘23 to March ‘24 so that was our plan. Mr A promised my husband ( in person) he would rush it through to have the warrant in time. 

The e-building department has this week sent me emails saying the (draft) application is being deleted as the site has not been accessed or updated in 12 months! 

Thus we have assumed that Mr A was not interested in our little job. 

Today Mr A has sent an email to us attaching a quote from a structural engineer to do a site visit, and an attached email from planning with questions about our central heating boiler needing  to be relocated and inconsistencies in the poorly composed plans. (Our boiler was replaced with an ASHP in August as Mr A has been advised was happening. )

Mr A’s lack of communication has been appalling. We tried so hard. If he had kept in touch, told us there were delays and whatever I would have been sympathetic. As it is, we are both fuming. 

I know we have gone against the rules by building without the warrant, and are ready to do a retrospective application once we receive an enforcement notification ( I think that’s the right term). 

My Relative, The Builder was very careful to read up on current legislation and requirements in Scotland. The wood is as thick or thicker, the insulation is top notch, the electrics go above and beyond with switches in the new room at the new regulation height ( in contrast to the rest of the house). The walls, ceiling and window meet fire regulations. He has scrimped on nothing. 

We have the benefit of a walk in shower. Hand rails for the toilet and shower, motion sensor lighting and a large bedroom that will accommodate equipment. 

I am 60. My husband 78. The whole point of this project was to create a room that we can use in our deteriorating years. We have done it and are very pleased with it. 

Now we have to face the challenge of a retrospective building warrant application with no idea who will help us through it as I’m damned sure I won’t be asking Mr A again. 

We’ve had no discussion with Mr A re schedule of charges. Goodness knows what sort of bill he is going to send us now I’ve told him
to do one! 

Doozergirl

I'm still not exactly up on the Scottish building regulations but I still know they've historically been tighter than England.   I'd be surprised if Scotland doesn't carry out inspections throughout the process, as happens south of the border.   

Your relative, the builder who carried out this top notch work, has some responsibility here, as do you to ensure that the process is followed. 

I can understand if the architect has been MIA, but that doesn't absolve anyone else, not least the builder, but you also took the decision to go ahead. Looking back at this thread from last year it was just you and the highly competent builder who appears to have told you that warrants weren't required until we told you they were.  There was no architect last year and you'd submitted the plans yourself?  

 

Edit: You need the warrant before you even start work.  You know that and you have also told us that you know you didn't have the warrant.  The time to berate the architect and find a new one was before you started.  

https://www.mygov.scot/building-warrant

If I knew I had responsibility in the process, I wouldn't be posting here.  

Someone said something to me earlier this evening.  'You can't cheat an honest man'. 

I feel like the promise of free labour was driving this project yet the builder appears to have been leading you on a merry dance.