Hello All

[MartinL]

Hi everyone.

 

I've got a bit of an unusual problem, don't know if anyone has anything to offer? 

 

My mum and dad bought a dilapidated bungalow about 30 years ago.  They demolished it and built a two storey house.  They extended the living space as much as they could under permitted development at the time.  One of the stipulations local planning made was that the roof line couldn't be raised, so they ended up with their bedrooms and bathroom upstairs, in the roof. 

 

30 years later, they're approaching 80, stairs are not so great for them.  There's plenty of space for a downstairs bed/bath if they could extend, but as I say, the PDRs were fully used in the rebuild.  PDR now would allow more than they used then (enough for such an extension) , but we don't think that will fly. 

 

What we're thinking is we could convert the house into a bungalow by blocking off the upstairs accommodation and removing the staircase - we know the roof height is already bungalow-appropriate.  We then move the upstairs living space downstairs in the form of an extension - same living space, just in a different place

 

I can find plenty of info on converting bungalows to houses, but nothing about going the other way, or even just about "redeploying" living space. Anyone have any experience they can share? 

 

Cheers

[Temp]

9 minutes ago, MartinL said:

There's plenty of space for a downstairs bed/bath if they could extend, but as I say, the PDRs were fully used in the rebuild. 

 

As far as i know Permitted Development doesnt work like that.

 

When they got planning permission to knock down and rebuild they  might have used an argument that the new house would be no bigger than the old one plus any extensions they could have built under PDR. However that doesn't actually "use up" PDR. What normally happens is the planners grant permission subject to a condition that removes PDR.

 

So dig out the planning grant and check that they actually impose a condition that removed PDR. If they didn't then PDR rights are still available to be used.

 

Edit: or do you mean they got permission to knock down and rebuild and after that they extended it using PDR?

Edited April 11, 2021 by Temp

[MartinL]

No, you were right first time.  The permission was on condition that PDR was used up.

 

As I say, I don't think that one's going to fly.  I think moving the upstairs accommodation to the ground floor is more likely to succeed.  But clearly, there's space up there, so I guess planning would need to be happy or was no longer accessible? 

[Temp]

If Permitted Development Rights were removed then that just means any new extension will need a Planning Application. It doesn't mean that the application will automatically be refused.  

 

What do neighbouring houses look like? Are they bigger/smaller? Would an extension overlook them? 

 

 

 

 

[MartinL]

The next door neighbour did the same thing - demolished and rebuilt, giving up PDR.  He's just applied for an extension, and been turned down, both local and on appeal, because we're green belt.

 

We've put in a pre-app and asked about a small extension, and that'd be our ideal. But if that doesn't fly, moving the living space would work too. I just can't find any info on anyone who's done it ?. I imagine the planning bods would need to be confident we couldn't just put the staircase back and go upstairs again, but it doesn't seem like an unreasonable request does it? 

[Olf]

52 minutes ago, MartinL said:

I imagine the planning bods would need to be confident we couldn't just put the staircase back and go upstairs again,

Arrangement of the interior is not a subject of planning. If you can't get the extension, then indeed removing the staircase to claim some space and rearranging downstairs to work for your parents would  the scope - the former something to discuss with building control (how to make them happy that the 1st floor becomes uninhabited attic space and so does not need stairs), the latter maybe with some architect, preferably both specialising in making small spaces work and familiar with needs of elderly people.