Our job is to make things less complicated for you while at the same time doing it right. Listed below are just some of the things we’ll discuss with you, guide you through and help you with. We’ve done much of this for a great many clients throughout Havering, Brentwood and right across Essex and London – we’ve even had to think like this for the work we’ve done on our own family home, so we know what matters. We also know what you don’t need to be bothered with too. You might also find some useful tips below – we hope it provides some insight into how thorough we are.
Thought about moving but cannot find anything suitable in our price range, can we extend our existing home?
Firstly decide what sort of room is needed, is it to start a family or is the kitchen too small or do you need a garage?
There are certain requirements to be able to extend your property for example if you would like a loft conversion you will need at least 2.0 metres head height. This can vary but generally this is the excepted height, there are other requirements but this is by far the most critical.
If of course you would like to extend to the rear or to the side there is generally no problem depending on the depth and width and providing, if planning permission is required, there are no objections from the neighbouring properties.
Most proposed alterations do require planning permission but there are exceptions, the best way to find out is by contacting your local authority planning office and they will explain what is necessary. The planning office will explain how they would like it to look in relation to the immediate area and what is required to do so, (it takes approximately eight weeks for the local authority to arrive at a decision). This part is all about street scene roof height and extra walls. Once permission has been granted for you to build you will then require building regulation permission this part takes approximately five weeks.
In some cases you may be able to submit a building notice and build immediately However this can be hazardous because it means that your build is based on your building inspector’s discretion.
The above is a general insight in what it takes to start the process of developing your property. Most people tend to instruct an Architect/Surveyor who will take charge of all the red tape once they have decided to develop, they will also design the project for you with your input. When the drawing is complete you can then instruct building contractors to tender for the works, it is recommended that when instructing builders you get at least three estimates. It is advisable to use builders that have been recommended or that are members of trade associations such as THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF BUILDERS which we have been for a number of years.