Bluebaron

I’ve had some changes made to the original design. Ideally I am trying to get the en-suite to the front of the house to get better use of the hallway. My designer said he was unable to make it work with the left hand bedrooms. Also I have a super-king bed (2100mm wide) so the main bedroom is quite narrow and can’t fit tables in and have to go with a pocket door. I’m sure with some thought this can be sorted but we’ve parked it for now and decided to go for planning rather than get hung up on internals. I’m also a little concerned that having the boiler/plant so far from kitchen area may affect warm up times? Thanks for advice everyone.

Sounds like you might get quite a bit of moisture in there the vent of the window may help a bit or it might be worth considering a fan?

Example of neighbour with extension.

The site plan above was actually the first draft but takes a lot of the rear garden up. the reason for the front design was to fit in with the street scene. It’s all 3 bed 1950’s semi’s. A few people have added a side extension and that effectively what I’m doing but with a new detached house. it would seem to make more sense pushing the side boundary as it’s the end of the road next to a local park so I can go right up. The site plan above wastes a lot of outside space to the back left.

The garage would be mainly for storage and my motorcycle. My current garage is 2200mm wide and works fine. This would be 900mm wider. most people don’t use garages for cars anymore but a quick google search would suggest people wouldn’t buy a house without one. (Excluding inner cities maybe). My mother-in-law converted hers to a dining room years ago and has forever regretted it. Loss of storage for a room she uses a few times a month at most. im at the end of a cut-de-sac so entry/exit shouldn’t be a concern.

site plan

Thank-you all for your input. I can see the benefit of getting rid of the garage but is a small plot and apart from maybe a small shed there not much room for storage. i'm also not sure if for resale-ability people would want no garage for, say a dining room or second lounge? It would be a fairly easy conversion project if someone wanted that? Pretty much the RHS is for K/D/L. Are you saying make it more open plan? I'll probably live here for 3-5 years, I'm going for a 3 bed/3 bath (left hand bedrooms will be one). I thinking now to turn the stairs to gain more downstairs hallway space and for the WC. I am conscious that the hallway upstairs is wasted space i've had my guy amend slightly but still not right IMO. Assuming all the windows stay the same position anyone ideas for better layout?

Thanks for feedback. North is to the left, font is west facing. boiler/plant could go in the utility or garage? stacking WM is good idea, thanks. i may turn the stairs and could put the wc to the left of the front door. haven’t thought about insulation/building regs yet. But could maybe go flat roof although a pitched roof does have a nicer/softer look. I need a garage and no room on plot for external. Not sure what K/D/L is?

First draft came through on may self build. In general it's where i want to be but some feedback would be appreciated. In particular not sure on the dining table area, it's an odd shape to maximise internal area. Upstairs i've lost a small front central bedroom to get natural light in hallway and made the whole upstairs left hand side two bedrooms instead on one large master suite. Im guessing this would be better or saleability (4 bed 2 bath over 3 bed/3bath. If i did decide to make the whole upstairs LHS 1 room ideas for ensuite/wardrobes keeping window placement at front and rear. Thanks

Yes thanks for advice everyone. I was looking at ripping the trees out I’m now exploring ways to maybe keep one hence my question. The tree is already over 25m tall with a 1m+ diameter.

Ok that’s sounds good then, I did wonder as nothing in any planning documents I’ve seen said it can’t be done without proper consideration to the new build and the tree itself.

Ok probably best if I reword. has anyone built less than 6m from a large tree? Don’t care about cost etc just can it /has it been done . Everything on google talks about RPA and deep foundation, I know about all that. I just need to know if the planners will allow it with suitable workarounds etc. Thanks

Getting a soil survey done but could probably clay. Hence a heave risk hence looking for a workaround

Taking into account that I will require a specialist foundation realistically how close can I build to a mature oak tree? im looking at 5-6m. can this be done?

Well the point I’m getting at is I’m looking at the plot as a potential site for a self build. The trees are 7-10m from the existing house and would be in the way of any development. removing the trees may pose a risk to the existing property. so I’m wondering if it’s worth the punt to secure a potential plot or whether to walk away before I spend a fortune of expensive surveys.

I would but sadly can’t build a house on top of a 50’ oak tree!

OK so i'm still debating on this one. Pro's, established residential area guy across the road has done similar end of cul-de-sac location Looks like a good shot at getting PP. (local history) If not ill go down the side extension route con's history of subsidence. Looks to fine now but the 3 large oaks 7-10m from the house right where i want to build. If i take the trees out there's a real risk of heave, this shouldn't effect the new build as ill design around the risk. But it could affect the existing including the neighbour. (who just finished a rear extension) Aso taking out 3 large oak tree will piss a few locals off i bet as to be fair they are quite nice trees that predate the house (1950). Spoke to one SE who said i would mad to remove the trees and would definitely cause a heave risk. (over the phone didn't see site). A second specialist soil guy told me to test the soil to see the clay content. I'm thinking i could get a soil survey/heave assessment done to start but will probably be an educated guess. Thoughts? It is worth the investment in surveys/cost/time or is this gamble a bit high risk? If is wasn't for the trees i would be all over it.

Looking to do a self build on a 1950’s development. It’s at the end of a cul-de-sac. It’s a small plot for a 3-4 bed detached maybe 100-150sqm. I will eventually go have a chat with the planners but was wondering if anyone in a similar situation got permission for a modern/contemporary home as apposed to something with the classic lines of “brick/tender to match”, “roof tiles tj match” etc?!

£800 would be great last time I had a tree down cost me £2500 and this is a lot larger. 🤷🏻‍♂️ These are the tree la I’m looking at. Not sure what that photo above is.

Yes that is sorted in principle l, turns out they brought the land in the 70’s but never registered it. My solicitor has it in hand.

Yes I’ll certainly look into that. i’m not relishing the prospect of removing three large mature oak trees. If I can get the sellers to do it before completion, or at least agree a reduction in price based on the subsidence report, all the better. linked to this post.

Trees have to come out as I’m planning a new build in the plot.

🤔 thanks for advice, I’ll wait and see what comes back. At the moment I’m paying market value, if anything a slight premium! no cracks at the moment so assume the 2013/14 repair was successful. If I build/extend it will certainly be piles due any heave risk. either way the trees will come out. They are on the land with no TPO so I’m assuming I’ll just get it done asap before anyone can complain etc. I think I’ll probably go back and say I want the trees removed entirely before completion and a full foundation survey done at their cost. If not I’ll have to drop price significantly.

Thanks Jilly, yes the trees are all on the property. They currently are not TPO’ed. I was concerned about heave, I’ve asked if a heave survey was carried out. I’m waiting to hear back. It doesn’t look like any crown reduction as taken place in the last 10 years. Except from 2014 report below. not sure what advice to get here? Full structural survey? Would this include test pits to assess root invasions? the next door had just had a small rear extension added and the builder said there were roots everywhere he got away with 2.5m trench fill. He’s further from the trees, he said piling would have been a better option but homeowner wanted to save money. I was hoping to remove the trees anyway to use the side plot for a new dwelling. I’ve read up on heave and not sure how to prevent it causing damage to existing particularly with the history.

Looking at a house and just got the legal pack. I’ve found a report of subsidence in 2013/14. It’s all been fixed and was blamed on clay soil and three large oak trees less than 10m form the house. the report recommended removal of these trees and this hasn’t happened. 10 years later I’m concerned that a re-occurrence is a distinct possibility. I’ve asked the seller to confirm and why the trees have not been removed. Should I walk away from this one or what would you recommend?