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Planning Permission: The Process
1. Do You Need It?
Firstly, find out if your grand design does require planning permission. To do this
either contact the planning department of your council, or use the online planning
service at Planning Portal.
2. Ask A Planning Officer:
If you do need permission, ask your planning officer if he or she can see any obvious
difficulties with your proposal, and any ways to make it more acceptable. Tony McDonald
at Wandsworth Council offers the following top tips when applying for permission:
- Check out your local council's policies on their website.
- Look at the schemes that have already been approved locally.
- Make sure your proposal fits in with your area.
- Think about how you would feel if your proposed work was built next door to you!
3. Draw Up Plans:
Many homeowners hand over the responsibility for obtaining planning permission to
their architect or builder.
Architect Your Home
offer a unique system that will do some or all of this - for plans and a survey,
they reckon £1,500. To submit the plans £170-250. For design work, £450 for half
a day consultation.
Tony McDonald at Wandsworth Council says: "An architect could present your scheme
in the best light, but it is possible to do it yourself if you look at your local
council's website and see the kind of drawings that are required."
4. Fill In The Forms:
You will need to fill in the necessary forms, enclosing your fee (usually £135 in
England), a plan of the site, and a copy of the drawings showing your proposed work.
5. Public Announcement
Your application will be put on the Planning Register at the council offices for
public inspection. Your neighbours will be sent a letter, or a notice will be put
up near your house, and perhaps one in your local paper.
6. Fingers Crossed:
Now all you can do is cross your fingers, and be nice to your neighbours. Expect
to wait around eight weeks for a decision.
7. Acceptance Or Refusal?
The council officers will then make their decision based on the impact that your
ideas would have on the appearance and the safety of the surrounding area.
Only a small percentage) of applications are refused. Tony McDonald says: "Plans
are usually rejected if they conflict with policy, over-scaled and un-neighbourly,
or if they are badly designed."
You may have a fabulously individual plan, but it won't make life easy. Tony suggests
checking out what is usually accepted on your local council's website. He advises,
"less common structures can create problems."
8. Rethink Or Appeal?
If you are refused you can appeal against the decision, but it's probably simpler
to talk to your planning officer, and find out whether there are any modifications
that might make your proposal more acceptable.
9. Second Attempt:
You may be able to submit another application with modified plans free of charge
within six months of the decision on your first application.
10. Start Work:
Within no time you can put all this behind you and start enjoying the rumble of
cement mixers and the endless tea making.
11. Sell With Permission:
The again, maybe not. If building work horrifies you and you plan to move anyway,
having planning permission in place can be a good way to help sell your house.
Indeed, some estate agents say having permission in place for, say, an extension
or a loft conversion, can add 10-15 per cent to the value.
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