twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I am trying to find out if I can get planning permission for a small house or bungalow in my garden and want to enquire tentatively of the local council's planning department before going to the expense of getting plans drawn up. Previous applications by a neighbour have failed but they were submitted years ago so I am not sure if I am still doomed to failure or if, with planning regs seeming to have been relaxed lately, it is worth me applying. When I go to the planning portal it tells me that I can speak to someone at the local council for preliminary advice but when I ring them they just tell me to e mail them. I would rather talk to them but they are not keen so I was looking for advice on what I should put in the email so that I don't inadvertently scupper my chances of getting planning permission. If anyone has any expertise in this area I would really appreciate it if you would get in touch. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Colin - Ebized is your man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 but don't you just love planners 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks Andy. I'm not sure what i think about planners yet as I haven't managed to communicate with one thus far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I'd be keen if Colin is about as might have something coming up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 I've just messaged Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMX Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I have a bit of experience of this (used to do drawings for planning permission in my spare time) but I'm no expert & I'm not an architect or anything like that! However, my dealing's with local planning offices was, generally, a positive experience as they are a fairly helpful bunch. My best advice is to get a copy of your potential build area (OS plan) Your planning office should supply this for a small fee (£10.00 ish) You just need to supply an address/postcode. Then plot, to scale, your new dwelling, showing as much information as you can, i.e, will it have a shared driveway, it's own driveway, boundaries with other properties, etc. You also need to note what type of property bungalow, house, no of bedrooms, etc. You can then email this or just go to your local planning office & ask to see a planning officer. They will then offer advice as to the likelyhood of whether this might or might not get planning permission but this will only be an opinion. Depending on what they say you can then go to the next stage either outline planning permission or full planning permission. Outline planning permission is the simplest/cheapest but even if you get this, you still need to apply again for full planning permission which could be refused! Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I have a bit of experience of this (used to do drawings for planning permission in my spare time) but I'm no expert & I'm not an architect or anything like that! However, my dealing's with local planning offices was, generally, a positive experience as they are a fairly helpful bunch. My best advice is to get a copy of your potential build area (OS plan) Your planning office should supply this for a small fee (£10.00 ish) You just need to supply an address/postcode. Then plot, to scale, your new dwelling, showing as much information as you can, i.e, will it have a shared driveway, it's own driveway, boundaries with other properties, etc. You also need to note what type of property bungalow, house, no of bedrooms, etc. You can then email this or just go to your local planning office & ask to see a planning officer. They will then offer advice as to the likelyhood of whether this might or might not get planning permission but this will only be an opinion. Depending on what they say you can then go to the next stage either outline planning permission or full planning permission. Outline planning permission is the simplest/cheapest but even if you get this, you still need to apply again for full planning permission which could be refused! Hope this helps things have changed mate very rare to get that level of service (or response) from any planning department Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
350zedd Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Please don't use the words planners and experts in the same sentence. The two words are incompatible when used together and may cause offence to many! Sorry twobears, couldn't resist a little rant there.....had very bad experiences with these people. (no offence to Colin either) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks everyone I think what i probably need is pre-pre-planning permission! I have no plans and just want an idea whether planning permission is likely to be rejected out of hand before I start thinking of getting an actual plan drawn up. My neighbour told me that there was some sort of line beyond which planning permission was never going to be granted but I am not sure if this is a figment of my neighbour's imagination or if it may have once existed but no longer. Also, we are, like many others, living on a flood plain so that might count against us (although big house builders seem free to ignore this?) and have no mains drainage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Colin has officially retired but he may be still able to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliveBoy Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Also, we are, like many others, living on a flood plain so that might count against us (although big house builders seem free to ignore this?) and have no mains drainage. There's a house in Chobham which was built literally next to the river on flood plain and they were granted planning permission so long as the house was built on essentially brick stilts higher than the water level normally goes. I think, so long as you take adequate precautions they're ok with it. Found the shots of it being built on google maps https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.3463433,-0.5737953,3a,40.4y,303.16h,84.92t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4fSoR2ZtUsDRPbPe8t8b5g!2e0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks Graham. I've messaged Colin AliveBoy, that is a little larger than the cottage I had in mind 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Where are you based Twobears? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daryl Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My mums husband has been drawing up extensions and extra floors and stuff like that for longer than iv been alive. If you are around the Southend area, he maybe able to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks Daryl but I'm miles away, in East Yorkshire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks everyone I think what i probably need is pre-pre-planning permission! I have no plans and just want an idea whether planning permission is likely to be rejected out of hand before I start thinking of getting an actual plan drawn up. My neighbour told me that there was some sort of line beyond which planning permission was never going to be granted but I am not sure if this is a figment of my neighbour's imagination or if it may have once existed but no longer. Also, we are, like many others, living on a flood plain so that might count against us (although big house builders seem free to ignore this?) and have no mains drainage. This line is indeed correct. Where my parents live, it used to be open fields opposite. But, over the last 10 years house upon house have been built on this land. This has basically left a row of newish houses, then a field, then an old house which has been there since 1901. The new owners of the old house applied to see if they could build a couple of houses in the field, which from my eyes would now really be classed as "in fill". However the local council rejected these. They have a map of the village and on that map they have a line which goes around it all. Anything inside the line can be built on, anything the other side of the line is classed as brown belt (or whatever) and they refuse under any circumstance to allow it to be built on. I found it quite funny really, as basically the line goes straight through this field. So quite what difference it makes for the 3 fields one side of the line which are now built on, and the remaining field the other side of the line I really dont know. What the old house owner is doing now is trying to work with planners to make sure any new build is kept to the "allowed" side of the line, leaving the new builds garden in the "non build allowed" side of the line. Pretty mad really. Ive had limited dealings with planning people at my local council. When I first moved in a couple of years back I dropped them an email asking if id be okay to put a fence between me & neighbours out front to separate our drives. I was just expecting a simple yes or no back but actually got quite a detailed letter back from them saying yes, but certain conditions had to apply etc. Likewise one of my neighbours decided to do a loft conversion and I had quite a few letters through from planning to make sure I was happy. I actually phoned them up and the planning officer answered the phone and had a long chat wiith me about it all which I thought was good of them. I guess each area is different, but id start by dropping them a fairly informal email saying you would like to build in your garden, whats the likelyhood of anything being approved based upon previous applications in the area, and if so what likely conditions are there - i.e. any lines which cant be built over, or height/type of dwelling restrictions etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks rabbitstew Colin has kindly agreed to have a quick look for me to see if he can find anything that would definitely prevent me from getting permission so I will take it from there. Maybe this line is more tangible than I thought? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetpilot Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 In the last year i have just had a planning application accepted for a new build. I did manage to present plans to a planning officer a few years ago (it was a long term project) as someone mentions above, we had a chat and he said, the council would find it very difficult to refuse. Well a few years later, they did refuse, seeing a planning officer is no guarantee, first lesson learned. I was then advised to put in a pre planning application for the changes. There was a further charge for this service. Because i already had if you like, a free go at getting my revisions accepted from my initial application fee i thought i would go down that route. As far as i was concerned i had addressed their initial concerns for refusal. Obviously i had done enough and my 2nd set of plans were accepted. If i was in this position again i would start off with a pre planning application. Again, although this is no guarantee, it does allow the council to do all the relevant checks without public consultation (neighbours), so it gives you a chance to get things like, access, highways, transportation, natural england, ecps etc all correct. If you get these things acceptable, then only neighbourhood complaint can cause issue. However, a neighbour must have valid reason for it to be refused, not just, "i am a whinging old git with nothing better to do with my time than complain because i dont want to see someone else have some success and good fortune", of which by the way i had three It must be relevant to their living, i.e it blocks their light etc I approached all my relevant neighbours, showed them the plans and they all said, we have no issue and then one complained, when i asked her why, she said, i just dont want a house there. I would still approach neighbours if i were to do it again, but what they say and do are completely different things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread and an especially massive thank you to Colin who has been extremely helpful and, thanks to him, I now know a lot more about planning and I have a starting point I think it is pretty unlikely that I will get planning permission but at least I will have tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The G Man Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I had a similar scenario as jet pilot re neighbours, a whinge, nothing more. All it succeeded to do was put me back six weeks to the next planning meeting, my plans were accepted at the meeting. This was after the said neighbour had indicated that they didn't object when I showed them our plans. They now have to drive past my house every day and I hope it still sticks in their craw. Planning regulations change all the time and what might get rejected initially, will probably be accepted eventually with perseverance, although there are plenty of exceptions to call on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetpilot Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 They now have to drive past my house every day and I hope it still sticks in their craw. And now its there, they probably dont notice it at all I understand everybody has a view and opinion, but being you can view their complaints, some of them are just laughable. One neighbour (behind me) didnt like the idea of a garage being on her boundary due to, increased noise from cars at "all times of the day and NIGHT", i have got better things to do with my day, like work and particularly at night than drive in and out of my garage. Another neighbour (also behind), when i put in the 2nd amended plans said as his first line, there is no difference to the original plans, except, the house has changed size and location on the plot. So in fact everything has changed It was a very satisfying feeling when i got planning and whilst i wont gloat, there will be some choice loudly spoken comments whilst i am building Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliveBoy Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 They now have to drive past my house every day and I hope it still sticks in their craw. And now its there, they probably dont notice it at all I understand everybody has a view and opinion, but being you can view their complaints, some of them are just laughable. One neighbour (behind me) didnt like the idea of a garage being on her boundary due to, increased noise from cars at "all times of the day and NIGHT", i have got better things to do with my day, like work and particularly at night than drive in and out of my garage. Another neighbour (also behind), when i put in the 2nd amended plans said as his first line, there is no difference to the original plans, except, the house has changed size and location on the plot. So in fact everything has changed It was a very satisfying feeling when i got planning and whilst i wont gloat, there will be some choice loudly spoken comments whilst i am building and angle grinding random bits of metal at 2am right? That's not increased noise from cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 I have no neighbours to the side where I would ideally like to build or at least not for a mile so,hopefully, no-one would object except my neighbour the other side who would also not be affected in the slightest but who likes to moan as a sort of hobby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetpilot Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I have no neighbours to the side where I would ideally like to build or at least not for a mile so,hopefully, no-one would object except my neighbour the other side who would also not be affected in the slightest but who likes to moan as a sort of hobby Good luck, nothing ventured, nothing gained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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