Ernie

Just to feed back in the end the PWS produced the award without waiting for building control and we were able to start the project. Now the neighbours have produced a long list of things they are not happy with about the new outrigger party wall as part of our loft conversion. Some are reasonable and some are just petty. Obviously I want to keep things amicable but it feels they are taking the mick a bit, any advice for navigating this stage of a build?

Looking for thoughts on my situation, Following on from my planning permission saga for a loft conversion which we were successful, the party wall has turned into another saga. We agreed to use my neighbours suggested party wall surveyor to keep things simple and reduce costs, however this looks to be biting us as each discussion seems to entail a new list of queries. The last email requested building control approval and various statements from our builder and which seem ott to me for a small domestic project. I’m worried we are a bit stuck now we have agreed to appoint them as joint surveyor, is there anything we can do to stop the surveyor trying to rack his fee up??

Well it's good news, the planning application is now showing as granted on the planning portal. I really didn't think we would get it over the line but so happy it's done. All the amended plans and final report haven't been uploaded yet but I'm assuming this decision notice should be final. Now on to the business of sorting out the party wall agreement with my neighbours who objected 🥴

Yes hopefully just some arse covering. The planning officers reply to my emails really makes me wonder if we will ever see a final report 🤯 Hope you are well received drawings and will try and deal with soon. I am so sorry for the wait , a report is already in the box I only need to tweaking. I am of the mind of approval. Kind regards

Once again thanks for the replies. Yes I agree I think number 5 will struggle to even see much of the loft conversion and I don’t think they are being reasonable in objecting. But as I’ve come to realise planning applications bring out the worst in your neighbours. Unfortunately I don’t have much hope in the planning officer being objective in her assessment given my past interactions with her. My architect has sent the drawings let’s hope it is the final tick box.

Thank you for the replies. I have had the following reply from planning officer after asking for a decision date; Thanks for your email I am requesting an elevation drawing showing the view from N05 D Road .Can this infor reach me Monday 22/5/2023 end of day. Kind regards For context we are number 1 end of terrace row. Number 5 (2 doors down) have objected stating it will affect their light. Any advice on how to respond? I feel this is not a reasonable request of us and that the officer needs to make their own determination and is merely trying string the process along.

And so the saga continues. Minimal communication from the planning officer and impossible to get hold of. We have had one email stating that she is not able to understand the orientation of the house on the plans which must be an absolutely basic skill of a planning officer?? Much to my surprise yesterday morning she turns up on my doorstep unexpectedly. She was convinced that she had arranged an appointment with us. It turns out she intended to visit one of our neighbours objecting (which I also find unusual). My suspicions that she is seriously disorganised and disoriented and frankly not up to her job are confirmed. I insisted she view the site and hopefully she will finally be able to make a decision about plans after 6 months of waiting.

A few immediate neighbours have main dormers but no outriggers, but there are a few in the vicinity. However my road has a great variety of housing periods and is not a conservation area. I have attached the amended plans which show the outrigger is not even 12sqm, anyway we will wait and see.

Just wondering if anyone has any pearls of wisdom with loft planning applications as mine is turning into a bit of an ordeal. Our house is end of terrace in London. The house needs lots of work including a new roof. My wife and I decided to go for L-shaped dormer that is over permitted development size to get 2 extra rooms. This is the first time we have done any sort project like this so we are certainly naive when it comes to planning applications etc… The architect we went with recommended doing the main section of the loft under permitted development and applying for planning permission for the rear section. Getting the certificate for lawful development for the permitted development was without issues but the planning permission has been another story. We submitted plans start of November and only received communication from the planning officer in March stating she was going to refuse the application because we are in conservations area, which is incorrect. After correcting her she said the plans were fine and she would grant permission. 3 weeks later she changed her mind and she has said it was in fact too big, so we would have to amend the plans if we are to be successful. She also said that she needs to assess the plans in conjunction with those submitted under permitted development which I don’t know if correct or not. We have sent the amended plans but no idea how long it will take for these to be assessed. The planning officer doesn’t fill me with much hope with how far behind deadlines she is and that she is always quoting from the wrong sections of guidance and generally doesn’t seem to have much idea about this type of application. We feel let down by our architect as in hindsight the initial design wasn’t appropriate and they don’t seem to have much to offer now things aren’t going well. To top it off we have received 3 objections which means we need to go to committee unless someone has commented twice. The options I am looking at are: keep calm and carry on withdraw the application and just do a smaller loft conversion which will be a shame as the roof needs a lot of work and the extra room will be useful Withdraw and re-submit with a more capable architect and hopefully get assigned a better officer Thanks for any advice