Where to start! (Planning permission, conveyancing, architects etc)

[Pete77]

Hi - I’m a novice diy’er but will focus my efforts on landscaping, paving etc.... leaving a builder to a kitchen / utility timber frame and glazed extension.

 

My initial question is really, who to turn to first and where to start...!

 

We’ve had an offer accepted subject to planning to buy a narrow slice of land, from the road, along the side of our house, and then right up the side of the house to the back of the rear garden. This enables a dropped kerb to park off-road at the front, then behind it an entrance into the extension which will come off our narrow kitchen. This is currently agricultural land (meadow) and so will need planning for change of use (albeit it’s a tiny part of a very large field).

 

However there are some complications!

 

1) We’re in a conservation area, and the village boundary line on literally on the side of our house... so any change of use or planning for an extension is slightly outside the boundary by a few metres.

 

2) We will need permission for the dropped kerb at the front, alongside I guess change of use planning permission for that too

 

3) There is an electricity substation behind where we’ll park which we’ll need to navigate around which is ok... however to the rear of that where our extension would go is, I understand, a buried electricity power line running off that substation to a rural cottage a couple of fields away. We’d need to re-route this around any extension I guess, but have no idea how easy or costly that would be?

 

4)  We’d likely buy the land even if we couldn’t build on it, just for the parking space and garden extension. But where do we start?! Should we first be speaking to conveyancers, planning consultants, or even go straight to an architect and focus on design first? 

Any advice MASSIVELY appreciated!  Thanks ??

[Dave Jones]

timber frame will be significantly more expensive than traditional brick and block. Money that could be better used elsewhere in the build ?

[Bitpipe]

3 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

timber frame will be significantly more expensive than traditional brick and block. Money that could be better used elsewhere in the build ?

 

This depends - while TF are more expensive up front, they are erected in a matter of days/weeks and you can then move on with your build. Depends how complete the package is and how valuable time is on your project. 

 

If 

37 minutes ago, Pete77 said:

 

 

3) There is an electricity substation behind where we’ll park which we’ll need to navigate around which is ok... however to the rear of that where our extension would go is, I understand, a buried electricity power line running off that substation to a rural cottage a couple of fields away. We’d need to re-route this around any extension I guess, but have no idea how easy or costly that would be?

 

 

You can get a quote from the DNO (local power supplier) for them to do the work and then see what's 'contestable' - i.e. they are ok with you doing - usually this is digging trenches, exposing the existing cable, backfilling etc. You can then get a quote from a local ground worker for those elements - add to the DNOs non contestable bit and that's your likely cost.

 

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, Pete77 said:

...

My initial question is really, who to turn to first and where to start...!

...

 

Anywhere. Just start.

Everything is linked one way or another, so just make a start : it really doesn't matter where. Sleeplessness is just round the corner - go with it, don't fight it. Waste lots of time on BH - it won't be wasted really. It will give you a very good overview of what can and does go wrong and right.

[Olf]

+1 

Educate yourself (read, read, watch youtube) so you can start asking many questions. 

My experience is that any trade will not tell you anything extra than a bare minimum - because they don't know any better, because they're not bothered, because they're paid only for what they do, not 'consultancy', because they could be accountable for something stupid they said. And at the end of the day you as a homeowner will bear responsibility for what is build (and you can insure only some aspects of it).