DanielAllen

Thanks for the replies everyone, it's been a great help! I was probably quite naive in thinking it would go through fairly easily given what is currently there now looks horrendous. Plus the local authority's need for affordable housing in the area! Im a newcomer to the whole self-build area and don't even own my own home yet, definitely should have sought some professional advice prior. I am now in talks with a local planning consultant that used to work at our council as well so very familiar with policies and hopefully a way around it

Something to keep in mind but we wouldn't ever want to live in a caravan or anything similar. If this plot doesn't happen we will most likely buy a normal house

They aren't structural unfortunately and the caravan dwelling is over 60 years old now, some facings and the roof has been changed but nothing we could do with it to make the application just an extension

Yes with rates paid! My family on that side has never had much money so they made do. My aunt lived in it until 2016 I think it was! The existing use was cited as "C3 Dwelling House; existing derelict/disused caravan house" on our application. The description is "Proposed New Detached Self-Build Dwelling House" Her main issue seems to be the distance between the properties, she's never mentioned about obscuring the windows to overcome this

Posted them all after the initial

That's what we were hoping but she doesn't seem to give any wiggle room at all and any points I've raised so far that are obviously in our favour she just ignores and doesn't even answer

My grandparents house is the bungalow not the new-ish build so our frontal Windows face their bungalow. The conservatory is classed as the back of their dwelling

Never mentioned anything about the building to the west other than the whole garden can't be at first floor lever like we wanted. It'll have to be split level so we aren't overlooking their garden. The officer did say it was overbearing and we're happy to reduce the overall height if need be but we obviously can't move the house back or it will then be an issue for the westerly property

Should have added this for context, our house would face the back of theirs

It is becuase they're facing windows she's saying. As you can what is there currently which until my Aunty passed away a couple of years ago was lived in with rates being paid on it is even closer to my grandparents bungalow than the proposed house

0301 - East Elevation - Proposed.pdf 0302 - South Elevation - Proposed.pdf 0303 - West Elevation - Proposed.pdf 0002 - Site Block Plan - Proposed.pdf 0003 - Site Block Plan - Existing.pdf 0300 - North Elevation - Proposed.pdf

So we've had planning denied on a couple of points but one of which being the council states the space around dwellings means the house needs to be 22m from my grandparents bungalow (The plans show it at 17m). They're gifting us the land so they are obviously fine with it. What I don't get though is we're already demolishing and replacing a dwelling that is currently closer to my grandparents than what we're actually building on the land (14m from their bungalow). Surely this should be taken into account? I'm losing the will to live with our planning officer!!

I agree, i'm going to speak with building control next week and see whay they come back with, definitely the best option I think. Cheers for the help!

Thankyou If we didn't use the attic do you think we would still need escape routes or fire suppression as it would then be a normal 2 storey house from the rear but still 3 storeys at the front if you include the garage?

Just wondered if anyone knows based on our plans (3 storeys from the front, 2 storeys at the back and side) whether the staircase will now not conform to building regs with it opening out into the kitchen? Also the windows at the side and rear second floor are floor to ceiling with no openings. Is there any way around this if it doesn't conform? Cheers 0900 - 3D 01_Initial Costing.pdf 0901 - 3D 02_Initial Costing.pdf 0200 - Ground Floor Plan_Initial Costing.pdf 0201 - First Floor Plan_Initial Costing.pdf 0202 - Second Floor Plan_Initial Costing.pdf 0203 - Third Floor-Loft Plan_Initial Costing.pdf

There is stairs in the garage leading up to the first floor as well. I'm not an expert but is that what you mean? I can ask my cousin if you don't think that's enough

The initial plans for costings have arrived with me tonight. I've attached the 3d sketches on this post so you can get an idea of what we're looking to achieve 0901 - 3D 02_Initial Costing.pdf 0900 - 3D 01_Initial Costing.pdf

Yeah that's exactly what we're thinking finish wise. We also don't have any children yet so its not like we have to finish the other 2 bedrooms yet as well as the attic bedroom. Just want to build the best house we can for the budget but make sure there's money for certain things that are expensive to re-do at a later date. Good shout on the materials we well, storage is no issue either so we will definitely bear that in mind!

We are looking to purchase a small bit of land to extend the garden but im hoping it won't be too much as its ground that can never be built on. It's 3 storeys with the whole ground floor being a garage/workshop plus a usable attic so square metre's wise it is a lot. Excluding the attic it will be 256.5m2 (simple cube shape of 85.5m2 per floor) I think that's correct but will confirm later when I get the plans back

We've told them to try and keep costs managable building wise and they know our budget but she lives down in Bristol so I imagine things cost a little more down there. We actually added 2 of those windows and the exact dimensions you mentioned width wise but 2100mm high. They aren't really any more expensive than a typical window from the quotes we've had but definitely add a more modern feel. We also have 4 more fixed windows at 1500mm wide. The rear and side looks out onto a nice open woodland area so we've put all of those there. Going with pitched roof as we'd like to use for the 4th bedroom. We will leave it unfinished unless costs are coming in budget but making sure its construction is designed to be usable in the future. We should have the revisions later so i'll post some pictures up

We're in Staffordshire so services around here aren't all that expensive compared to the south. The area the house will be going does have Electric, water and sewerage plus there was another house built very close to it so Gas shouldnt be too much of a problem either hopefully. A family friend owns that house and its literally about 20 metres away so we know the land is also good for building onto. Planning was also very straightforward with his but its a very similar brick and block house, nothing overly modern. My cousins boyfriend is an SE so she's been consulting with him a bit but defintely not looking to over complicate things with too many steels etc. Thanks for the advice

Do you think our budget will be okay given the specs? I do have a good groundwork family friend but it won't be a huge discount I doubt. Also the architect fees are minimal with my Cousin being one

Thanks for the help! Its definitely a very helpful and resourceful forum. Plenty to go through over the coming weeks before we apply for planning hopefully