JTLondon

Thank you all for your comments so far, it's certainly plenty to think about. We like the road, the area, the schools, the church, and family orientated approach of the area. We will out of curiosity see what is available detached around here but I suspect we will be priced out of a nice road.

Hi all, Long-time reader, first time poster. We are days away from submitting for planning permission to extension and refurbish our 1930s style semi just outside London. It’s been years in the scheming to come up with the utilisation of space we think we wanted, watching any number of home shows on TV and trawling the internet for pictures and blogs. We’ve obviously also been saving, and hope we have what would be 75% of the budget for the works (conceding much of the finish will be contingent on us finding / borrowing money 6 months from now). We live on a corner plot, with plenty of space relative to neighbours. It is a very mixed street with a combination of semi and detached houses, of all sorts of designs. To cut a long story short, I’m getting mild anxiety now I am submitting for planning, appreciating that I am finally committing to structural elements. If anyone has the time and curiosity, it would be much appreciated to assess the efficiency and perceived experience this new layout would bring. In case it is relevant: - We are a family of 4 (late 30yr old parents, 4yr old + 6 mth old), and hope the design strikes the balance of enjoyable for everyone now, and as we grow up together. - The rear glazed wall is north facing. - Currently the driveway enters from the south off a busy road, part of the plan is to close up that driveway, apply to have the curve dropped in the cul-de-sac around the corner, and then fence off a safer front garden area which the children can enjoy as much as the back garden. It will also mean we don’t be sideswiped by traffic as we use our drive (happened twice!) and the house will effectively look like a detached house when approaching from the east rather than the south (provisionally spoke with traffic team at the council and they thought in theory this adjusted entrance location would be ok but would need submitting to be assessed in more detail, and would probably require the original be blocked, so not in-and-out option). - We plan to use the garage mainly for storage for our vast amount of sporting equipment and as an exercise area, we don’t know how close to the land boundary we can reasonably go, it feels like leaving any is waste. - We like the idea of French Doors from the study and the snug to access the front garden, it seems a detached house in the street has this feature but would be different to our immediate neighbours, and any other semi detached. - Houses identical to ours in the street have only gone as far as single story side and rear extensions, or double story rear. So ours would represent the most bold renovation for our small set of houses, but we also have far more scope given we have the corner plot. - We appreciate that for the UK, the ensuite is large, however we plan a large shower and 3 person sauna in there, expecting it will be our lifestyle to retreat to there when the kids are asleep to be our own spa…a bit over the top, but will get us away from the TV and help us focus more each other, and on body maintenance and our yoga work. - We have a set of in-laws up to stay normally 3-4 weeks per year, so the 4th bedroom will be used. - We nicknamed the area in the centre of the house “the-cave” as it is so unbearably dark, that explains the skylight + void we have at the moment, and think it would look cool (we definitely have a tight budget, but still would like features that feel special / unique / give us joy). - We are open to the design of the glazing at the back of the house, currently we have 4m sliding doors (which I guess only one leaf would move) with additional fixed pane sections, assuming there is more choice of supplier and more reasonable costs for purchase and fitting for a 4m set, but if a higher end look can be achieved within our budget we would adjust to say 6m sliding doors etc. (question: could we change the glazing setup after planning without further permission required i.e. different width sliding doors?) - We’ve tried to minimize the requirement for steels by keeping existing loadbearing walls where possible, but there still seem like plenty will be required downstairs. - We currently have a carport and think it is the best thing since sliced bread throughout the year, so want to have one again, but now it is much closer to the street entrance (as that is now to the east of the house) and would perhaps want taller which may seem overpowering (unless it is transparent)…I guess it needs to be part of the PP since it is attached to the garage which in turn is attached to the house? Just realised the carport hasn't been drawn on the "FINAL SIDE" view, but you get an idea of the envisaged scale from the "FINAL DOWNSTAIRS", it would have to be cantilevered of sort to not have a post on the south easterly corner, as that would be slap bang in the middle of the drive access. - Really unsure of the ideal garage roof design, we want as much height inside as possible, but don't want the neighbours to object. We also have an eye on installing solar in the future, so imagine having some flat roof sections might be good for that purpose? - We have a very good relationship with our adjoined neighbours (probably until the JCB turns up!), but it has been frosty occasionally with those behind us. I would love to get into the planned finishes, but just should probably limit it to the things relevant to determining the structural elements of the house for now. Beyond the design, I’m obviously looking into the high cost items (glazing / flooring / accommodation during refurb) and have read many articles on this site, but if anyone, in response to my drawings, feels there is anything I should pay particular focus to, I would be super thankful for your input. Regards James