Planning for loft conversion queries
Discussion
The OH and I bought our current place about 18 months ago, it's plenty big enough for us now, but in the future we might consider converting the loft, and I have few queries that I thought people on here might be able to answer.
Most of the properties in the area were built between 1890 and 1930, I would say around 30-50% of the houses on the street and in the area have had loft conversions, ranging from sticking in sky lights to squaring off the roof line as well as putting dormas in. The latest loft conversion on the street was performed this summer.
My first question is, could there be any benefit to getting planning permission now, rather than leaving it to the future? It seems that gaining planning permission at the moment isn't an issue from the amount of conversions that are present, but who knows what will happen in the future? I guess the arguments against this will be the cost of getting planning now for something that may never be done and how long the permission will last (does it have an expiry date)?
The second question is whether gaining permission to extend into the loft will be a problem - our house originally had a half height storage area/basement which was accessed from inside the house through a trap door. This area had the same dimensions as the ground floor, apart from the height, so it was a substantial size.
Back in the 80s, a previous owner converted this storage area into a full height kitchen/diner and utility room, accessed from a new stair case underneath the original stairs. So, you could argue someone has already increased the living area by 1/3, but then you could also argue that this space was already there, internal and being used, it's just been enlarged slightly for height. Is there a limit to how much you can extend a property and is this limit in terms of footprint, living space, or something else?
Most of the properties in the area were built between 1890 and 1930, I would say around 30-50% of the houses on the street and in the area have had loft conversions, ranging from sticking in sky lights to squaring off the roof line as well as putting dormas in. The latest loft conversion on the street was performed this summer.
My first question is, could there be any benefit to getting planning permission now, rather than leaving it to the future? It seems that gaining planning permission at the moment isn't an issue from the amount of conversions that are present, but who knows what will happen in the future? I guess the arguments against this will be the cost of getting planning now for something that may never be done and how long the permission will last (does it have an expiry date)?
The second question is whether gaining permission to extend into the loft will be a problem - our house originally had a half height storage area/basement which was accessed from inside the house through a trap door. This area had the same dimensions as the ground floor, apart from the height, so it was a substantial size.
Back in the 80s, a previous owner converted this storage area into a full height kitchen/diner and utility room, accessed from a new stair case underneath the original stairs. So, you could argue someone has already increased the living area by 1/3, but then you could also argue that this space was already there, internal and being used, it's just been enlarged slightly for height. Is there a limit to how much you can extend a property and is this limit in terms of footprint, living space, or something else?
You don't need planning permission to convert a loft anymore in Wales and I'm sure the same applies to England now aswell
ETA: Found the link, as long as you stay within the guidelines you don't need planning permission as it's considered to be a "permitted development".
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
You will still need building regulations approval however.
ETA: Found the link, as long as you stay within the guidelines you don't need planning permission as it's considered to be a "permitted development".
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/common...
You will still need building regulations approval however.
youngsyr said:
That's great info., thanks.
I understand the examples, but it seems to use the dorma style extensions in the example.
Presumably squaring off the roof line (as below) will be acceptable too, as long as it meets the other criteria (50% additional roof volume, etc)?
We're having ours done now. So long as the roof line of any dormer is below the existing, you can pretty much do what you want. We looked at two options, two dormers (one on the side, one on the back) or a very large one, squaring off from about halfway down the side to right around the back. Cost wise, there isn't much in it but we went for two dormers mainly as it's more in keeping with the other houses round where we are. In London, I'd have probably boxed it off as it seems pretty much anything goes, or it did where we lived anyway. You gain a LOT more space doing that over the two dormers, but as ours is a guest room (at least for now) it's plenty big enough. I understand the examples, but it seems to use the dorma style extensions in the example.
Presumably squaring off the roof line (as below) will be acceptable too, as long as it meets the other criteria (50% additional roof volume, etc)?
Oh, and you just need building consent from building control. Ours cost about 75 quid and they come out and sign it off at the end.
Hmmm, ok thanks. Food for thought.
There's a real mix around our way of squared off (gable end?), dormas and just velux/skylights, so we could get away with any style and still be in keeping with the local properties, but I feel that the sqaured off/gable end look is much neater and probably gives more space. Our existing staircase to the second floor is also on the outside edge of the building, so to put a staircase directly above it to access the loft would require more headroom on the outside edge of the property (it's a semi-detached).
An unavoidable downside would be the loft conversion would be the master bedroom and would be on the third floor and the kitchen in the basement - so three flights of stairs to go from the kitchen to bed - a lift might be a better option!!
There's a real mix around our way of squared off (gable end?), dormas and just velux/skylights, so we could get away with any style and still be in keeping with the local properties, but I feel that the sqaured off/gable end look is much neater and probably gives more space. Our existing staircase to the second floor is also on the outside edge of the building, so to put a staircase directly above it to access the loft would require more headroom on the outside edge of the property (it's a semi-detached).
An unavoidable downside would be the loft conversion would be the master bedroom and would be on the third floor and the kitchen in the basement - so three flights of stairs to go from the kitchen to bed - a lift might be a better option!!
youngsyr said:
Hmmm, ok thanks. Food for thought.
There's a real mix around our way of squared off (gable end?), dormas and just velux/skylights, so we could get away with any style and still be in keeping with the local properties, but I feel that the sqaured off/gable end look is much neater and probably gives more space. Our existing staircase to the second floor is also on the outside edge of the building, so to put a staircase directly above it to access the loft would require more headroom on the outside edge of the property (it's a semi-detached).
An unavoidable downside would be the loft conversion would be the master bedroom and would be on the third floor and the kitchen in the basement - so three flights of stairs to go from the kitchen to bed - a lift might be a better option!!
That's why we put on a side dormer on ours - to get the head height for the stairs. We could have done a gable end, but no other houses round here are like that so it wouldn't have look at all right, whereas quite a few have dormers, so it is much more in keeping. There's a real mix around our way of squared off (gable end?), dormas and just velux/skylights, so we could get away with any style and still be in keeping with the local properties, but I feel that the sqaured off/gable end look is much neater and probably gives more space. Our existing staircase to the second floor is also on the outside edge of the building, so to put a staircase directly above it to access the loft would require more headroom on the outside edge of the property (it's a semi-detached).
An unavoidable downside would be the loft conversion would be the master bedroom and would be on the third floor and the kitchen in the basement - so three flights of stairs to go from the kitchen to bed - a lift might be a better option!!
It really depends on what you want from the room. Our side dormer will also include the ensuite so it's fairly big at 3m wide (slight more or less half and half between stairs and en-suite), but means we gain the things we need without compromising too badly on the room dimensions.
I agree, in London it would look neater but it depends on things, how long you plan on staying there, what do you need in the loft, how much space will you have, where will you store your clothes etc. Lofts are a bit of a nightmare to fit wardrobes into I've discovered!
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