Local service visits & remote advice throughout all of the U.K.
Over 30 years of Technical Drawing experience.
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Planning
Learn more about planning your next home extension project.
In certain cases you have already been legally granted planning permission for your extension by virtue of the General Permitted Development Order. That means you may not need to undertake a formal planning application and are therefore not subjected to a 5-8 week delay in getting started. You are currently allowed to construct a variety of extensions and other works without a formal planning application. Taking the planning application stage out of the timescale means that you could easily plan and build your extension within 4-8 weeks.
Whilst this sounds too good to be true, there are still restrictions and conditions that apply to limit the extents, protect conservation areas and listed buildings and especially to protect the amenity of your neighbours.
The current restrictions are not as harsh as you might imagine and currently you could build a single storey extension 4.0m (13’-1”) out from the rear of your home if it is detached and 3.0m (9’-10”) if attached. In certain cases a 2-storey extension is allowed up to 3m depth. The Government recently relaxed the limits on single storey rear development to 8.0m and 6.0m respectively. In these cases neighbours will need to be consulted and their views may have to be taken into account.
We always bear in mind that our work is not the project in itself but a tool to achieve a satisfactory build to your requirements. Our aim is to help you achieve that with the minimum of inconvenience during the approvals processes. Our experience shows that a good set of drawings and specification notes can easily save their cost when work starts compared against a cheap, inaccurate basic set. We will usually handle the applications processes from start to finish and will arrange for the additional information necessary for your application, structural engineer or heat loss calculations for example.
Not quite sure what you want or what it might cost?
On occasion we have met with clients who have been thinking about their extension for many years but have not been sure what to do. They know they need extra space for various reasons but are going around in circles. This might be because of an uncertainty regarding the processes involved; an inability to decide, or agree on, the physical dimensions or layout or uncertainty and fear about what the project might cost.
We can help in all these cases. We are happy to talk over the process and the applications required. We also find in a lot of these cases that just talking the requirements over can help you settle which issues are important and which are not; what is possible; what you would like and what you are willing to compromise on.
Where issues and requirements are not clear it can sometimes help to have existing and suggested plans prepared. Comparing room sizes, fitting furniture and so on are all easier on scaled paper plans. We are happy to quote for and undertake feasibility work.
We can help.
Ready to start your home extension plans?
We serve Northamptonshire and most of Bedfordshire and make no charge for the initial site visit and consultation. We will still visit projects from further away but request a small fee in advance to cover additional expenses.
