Black House Series Chapter 2 ~ Honest Budget Talks, and dealing with Planning
The planning hurdles, an unrealistic budget and architectural revisions. Join us as we navigate challenges familiar to many, offering insights and lessons learned.
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We completed the purchase of our bungalow at the end of October in 2018 and were excited to embark on the journey towards building our dream family home. We had hoped that the local planning department would be in support of our plans and design during the pre-planning process but if you have read Chapter 1 you will know that was not the case.
The planners had reservations regarding the mass and scale of the extension, we had to scrap the initial design (pictured below) and go back to the drawing board. I am not sure I have ever gotten over the original, dream design.
The planners had not given us much feedback as to what would be a more acceptable proposal. We hired a local planning consultant privately at a cost of £3000 which is a substantial amount to take into account if you are embarking on something similar here in the UK and are considering a somewhat contentious build. The consultant knew the area and planning department well, so he was able to fill in the blanks, review planning policies and brief the Architect.
We worked with the Architect to revise the design; now only adding a second storey to the rear of the bungalow and low pitched roofs which reduced the overall impact on neighbouring properties. The changes to the second storey meant we were losing around 22sqm internally. And the internal footprint of dreams which would have given us a 35m2 hallway.
A house behind a house
The positive with this backland development (‘house behind a house’ picture coming up) was that our bungalow sits on a piece of land that slopes away from the road so is much lower than the property in front. By redesigning so that that the highest part of our house was now at the rear meant it had less impact on our neighbours.
Read on to find out how we got around all of the planning hurdles and finally secured planning permission. If you are currently a free subscriber, or you have just found my cosy corner here, you can get full access to this post and the Renovation Series by upgrading to a paid membership. You will also access my weekly curated Edit that spans interiors, fashion and travel and join a design led community all seeking a Scandi lifestyle.