Does £600 for planning permission to convert two windows into one sound right?

Heliocentric

Hello,

Pictures are attached, please excuse the visual mess (and my wayward finger).

The family has previously used the local council's planning permission/building control service and from what I remember the cost was in the £100-£300 range in order to apply. Now my (London) borough is using this planning permission portal and the cost feels rather extortionate.

We used to have two windows which were removed and filled in with cement by a previous builder (not my decision). Now it's so dark in the room that I want to have windows again but instead of having the two windows, I want it to be just one large-ish window. I've spoken to a builder and he said he will alter the pipe to make it work etc. 

I contacted the council and they said to do this change of windows, I will need planning permission. They've told me to select the 'householder planning application' for this on the website. I then chose 'Enlargement, improvement or alterations' . The quote the website gave me was £613. This seems extremely high for what it is.

Does this sound too high to you? Have I selected the right options? Could there be a possible exemption? I will need to put off getting it done in order to save up if it costs this much.


Thanks.

marcia_

 I wouldn't choose enlargement because surely that refers to extensions etc What other options are there? 

FreeBear

Heliocentric said: I contacted the council and they said to do this change of windows, I will need planning permission. They've told me to select the 'householder planning application' for this on the website. I then chose 'Enlargement, improvement or alterations' . The quote the website gave me was £613. This seems extremely high for what it is.

There was a massive hike in both planning and BC fees a year or two back. So £613 doesn't sound too far off the mark.

Section62

Heliocentric said:

I contacted the council and they said to do this change of windows, I will need planning permission. They've told me to select the 'householder planning application' for this on the website. I then chose 'Enlargement, improvement or alterations' . The quote the website gave me was £613. This seems extremely high for what it is.

Did they say why you needed planning consent for this work?

The standard householder application fee (in England) is now £528 (the fees went up this year).  But there's also a £262 fee for minor work ("operations"), which you might be able to persuade the council to accept this is.

On top of that you'll also need to pay for building regulations signoff - it isn't clear from the picture whether lintels were installed above the original windows, but you'll need one for the new one(s).  Also as the right-hand window is quite close to the corner of the house it would be a good idea to check with a structural engineer to make sure the new opening is not going to compromise the stability of the corner, and also confirm the left-hand end is OK as it looks like the house may have been extended and the left-hand end of the lintel might have to span the construction joint.

jonnydeppiwish!

To me it would be a ground floor window, as as the same as converting a window to patio doors, I wouldn’t bother with PP as don’t see the need. Bits that’s just me

FreeBear

jonnydeppiwish! said:

To me it would be a ground floor window, as as the same as converting a window to patio doors, I wouldn’t bother with PP as don’t see the need. Bits that’s just me

Just be mindful that councils now have up to 10 years to undertake enforcement action over any PP or BC breaches. Failure to comply with any enforcement notices are subject to some quite steep fines.

silvercar

Was planning permission needed or obtained to get rid of the windows? If not, then the original planning permission for the house would have covered these windows. Not sure I would go through the hassle and cost of planning permission to revert to something that already had consent. Though I would ensure that building regs were complied with.

jonnydeppiwish!

FreeBear said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

To me it would be a ground floor window, as as the same as converting a window to patio doors, I wouldn’t bother with PP as don’t see the need. Bits that’s just me

Just be mindful that councils now have up to 10 years to undertake enforcement action over any PP or BC breaches. Failure to comply with any enforcement notices are subject to some quite steep fines.

Windows were there originally so for me it wouldn’t be an issue

silvercar

Why wouldn’t this fall under permitted development?

silvercar

Similar discussed many years ago, where the view was PP wasn’t needed 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/375973/planning-permission

Heliocentric

Section62 said:

Heliocentric said:

I contacted the council and they said to do this change of windows, I will need planning permission. They've told me to select the 'householder planning application' for this on the website. I then chose 'Enlargement, improvement or alterations' . The quote the website gave me was £613. This seems extremely high for what it is.

Did they say why you needed planning consent for this work?

The standard householder application fee (in England) is now £528 (the fees went up this year).  But there's also a £262 fee for minor work ("operations"), which you might be able to persuade the council to accept this is.

On top of that you'll also need to pay for building regulations signoff - it isn't clear from the picture whether lintels were installed above the original windows, but you'll need one for the new one(s).  Also as the right-hand window is quite close to the corner of the house it would be a good idea to check with a structural engineer to make sure the new opening is not going to compromise the stability of the corner, and also confirm the left-hand end is OK as it looks like the house may have been extended and the left-hand end of the lintel might have to span the construction joint.

On top of that you'll also need to pay for building regulations signoff

Is this building control?

also confirm the left-hand end is OK as it looks like the house may have been extended and the left-hand end of the lintel might have to span the construction joint.

There was a little outside toilet in a shed type building to the left of the left window but made of brick etc. and attached to the house. I wanted the builders at the time to restore it but they refused and said it was rotten and would have to come down.

Should I contact the structural engineer first before speaking to the window fitter/builder?

Did they say why you needed planning consent for this work?

They said this:

The replacement of windows that are not of similar appearance and design of the existing windows would require planning permission. For window replacement, if your property has not been converted into flats, a householder planning application is typically the appropriate type of application to submit.

The thing is, it had been converted into flats before the property was bought in the 1970s. I just don't know if the windows were part of that conversion. They don't look normal/typical of anything my neighbours have or anything I have ever seen before.