This is about an old farmhouse. It's 140 sq metres (about 10.5m x 6.5m) and sits on a plot of about 2 acres. It's outside of the village settlement boundary but not in a Green Belt or similar area. The local council have a policy that replacement homes cannot be more than 30% bigger than the existing home.
So, 30% more than 140 sq m is 182 sq m, and we really want to build a home rather bigger than that.
I read an old thread here from a number of years ago where somebody said that they had used permitted development rights to extend their bungalow and then got planning permission based on the size of the existing extended property.
Does that work? I know that every council will be different but is this a viable way to go? I have two questions:-
1) If we build extensions to the sides and rear to bring the total size up to what we need it to be, is that all we have to do in order to use that new size as the "existing home" that is used as the basis for the 30% larger new home?
2) I read elsewhere that you actually have to build these extensions. So, does a conservatory (or even one on each of the three sides of the house) count as part of the size of the house when they are calculating it or do I actually have to put up something with walls? I'm guessing that it would be a lot cheaper to just get the cheapest conservatory out there rather than putting up any other sort of external wall. I would want to spend the least possible as the plan is to knock the whole thing down anyway and replace it with a larger home.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
