National Minimum Space Standards.

[Susana]

Hi, I am fairly new to this forum and would appreciate some help please before I put planning through. We would like to build a small bungalow on a plot of land and was wondering if anyone knows how strict the councils are with regards the national Minimum space standards? We would ideally like a two bedroom bungalow but have been told that the bungalow would need to be 60 m² to meet the requirements for a one storey 2 bed. However ours will be closer to 40m² as this is all the land allows for due to it being a smaller size. Would it be more advisable to put planning in for a one bed and then in a couple of years, turn the large bedroom into two smaller rooms with building regulations? Obviously, we will have two bedrooms in the larger room now anyway, as it will be a large room and enough corridor to add its own entrance door, Would it be best for me to go down the two bedroom route as if they reject planning I then have somewhere to go with amended plans by then saying I will just have the one bedroom? Thank you 😊 

[IanR]

44 minutes ago, Susana said:

wondering if anyone knows how strict the councils are with regards the national Minimum space standards? 

 

For new builds the National standards are a minimum and they're mandatory (in England). Councils can set a higher Minium if they wish, but can't accept lower.

 

40m² allows a 1 bed, 1 occupant house. I believe that would restrict you to a bedroom between 7.5m² and 11.5m² in size. If you went larger than 11.5m² it would be considered a 2 occupant home which requires 50m².

[Nickfromwales]

59 minutes ago, Susana said:

Hi, I am fairly new to this forum and would appreciate some help please before I put planning through. We would like to build a small bungalow on a plot of land and was wondering if anyone knows how strict the councils are with regards the national Minimum space standards? We would ideally like a two bedroom bungalow but have been told that the bungalow would need to be 60 m² to meet the requirements for a one storey 2 bed. However ours will be closer to 40m² as this is all the land allows for due to it being a smaller size. Would it be more advisable to put planning in for a one bed and then in a couple of years, turn the large bedroom into two smaller rooms with building regulations? Obviously, we will have two bedrooms in the larger room now anyway, as it will be a large room and enough corridor to add its own entrance door, Would it be best for me to go down the two bedroom route as if they reject planning I then have somewhere to go with amended plans by then saying I will just have the one bedroom? Thank you 😊 

Are you constrained with ridge height, as adding a bedroom in the roof space (so 1.5 storey or ‘room in roof) would get you the extra m2 GIA in the same smaller footprint. 

[Susana]

5 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Are you constrained with ridge height, as adding a bedroom in the roof space (so 1.5 storey or ‘room in roof) would get you the extra m2 GIA in the same smaller footprint. 

Thank you 🙏 The build would be in between 2 bungalows but they both have higher roof space. Do you think maybe a chalet bungalow could work? With just velux windows? Or if we build with the necessary height we could then later on apply for building regs to add a room in the loft with velux windows so no planning required? Or is this not allowed down the line if we had planning accepted for a one bed only? I suppose a chalet bungalow would give us more overall square metres to meet the 2 story 2 person situation? 

[JohnMo]

1 hour ago, Susana said:

closer to 40m²

Sorry to be blunt - if you can't build bigger than a postage stamp, don't build.

 

The space allocation is small as defined by the minimum allowed. Your first topic mentioned 37m², but not sure if that was foot print or living space, but by any standards is very small - have you considered building a summer house, which is more size appropriate or find a suitable site to allow a proper sized bungalow. Or build down and or upwards.

Edited Thursday at 09:55 by JohnMo

[IanR]

24 minutes ago, Susana said:

 Do you think maybe a chalet bungalow could work? With just velux windows? ...

...I suppose a chalet bungalow would give us more overall square metres to meet the 2 story 2 person situation? 

 

You might be able to get to the 1 bed 2 person requirement of 58m² with a 2 story chalet, depending on how much area was lost on the 2nd floor due to restricted height, but you wont get to the 2 bed 4 person requirement of 79m² unless the local vernacular would allow a modernism/brutalism, flat roof style.

Edited Thursday at 10:15 by IanR

[DevilDamo]

If you seek Planning for a 1-bed dwelling, it’ll never be sold as a 2-bed even if you split the internals later.

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, JohnMo said:

Sorry to be blunt - if you can't build bigger than a postage stamp, don't build.

It's not blunt it's the hard reality!

 

The cost of this needs to be calculated vs the payback time from rent (minus all the taxes and deductions / maintenance / repairs / refurbishments). Obvs also include anticipated uplift in value over the next 10-20 years or more, and THEN work out if this is worth doing; or should you just leave the money in the bank and enjoy the rest of your years.....and that's if the tenant isn't a nightmare and you get the rent paid religiously.

 

Or, if it has independent planning and the plot is a title and deed (away from your dwelling) then put it up for sale and bank the moola, adding it to the pension pot for tax benefits. Depends on whether you're happy to suffer the nuisance of a new neighbour.

 

It is, and always will be, disproportionately expensive to build something small (tiny), so you really need to see if this is worth even beginning to think about. And that's if it all goes well. If you're a tradesperson who could do the foundations and stick build this in TF then we would be in a different place, but then there's also your own personal time / worth to be considered there if you're not retired etc (or are fit as a fiddle and have time and energy to input).

 

It may all go deliciously well and be your ticket to freedom, of course, but this needs a pragmatic approach and a reality-check at least, IMO.

[Susana]

31 minutes ago, DevilDamo said:

If you seek Planning for a 1-bed dwelling, it’ll never be sold as a 2-bed even if you split the internals later.

Thank you. We are not looking to build and sell, we would only sell if our circumstances changed in the future. We wanted the extra space to offer a long term rental to maybe a couple. We would like to keep the bungalow in the family as we also have children so they could use it if their situation warranted help from us. We appreciate it’s the size of a postage stamp but if the plot allows a build this size then we feel it’s worth a try as opposed to an annex which we would not be able to rent out if we needed to. We can’t afford to buy a plot with planning as they sell for £250,000 around here plus the build. We already own the land so our expenses would just be for the build. Thank you for your help. Much appreciated. 😊

[Nickfromwales]

You can AB&B an annex?

3 minutes ago, Susana said:

We already own the land so our expenses would just be for the build.

Your next port of call, afaic, is to now employ a QS to get at least a rudimentary bill of quantities done, to get a reasonably accurate, and realistic price this project, from A-Z.

 

Timber frame with a rendered external rain screen is prob quickest and simplest approach, possibly a brick or brick slip if planners get shitty, and keep it as simple as possible. A TF company can do the frame and roof (with the room in roof) in one sitting, and you've got the lions share of the work allocated to one contracting company (easier to control). Decent local general builder to then take it to completion. Each of these 2 parties will then project manage themselves....in an ideal world, with the general builder in at the outset for groundworks and foundation etc.

[Susana]

2 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

You can AB&B an annex?

Your next port of call, afaic, is to now employ a QS to get at least a rudimentary bill of quantities done, to get a reasonably accurate, and realistic price this project, from A-Z.

 

Timber frame with a rendered external rain screen is prob quickest and simplest approach, possibly a brick or brick slip if planners get shitty, and keep it as simple as possible. A TF company can do the frame and roof (with the room in roof) in one sitting, and you've got the lions share of the work allocated to one contracting company (easier to control). Decent local general builder to then take it to completion. Each of these 2 parties will then project manage themselves....in an ideal world, with the general builder in at the outset for groundworks and foundation etc.

Thank you. We are still indecisive about the method of build as my partner is worried about infestations and durability on a timber frame. Probably unwarranted but hard to convince otherwise. We would choose the cheapest option and do as much of the work as we can ourselves. We are not yet retired so still have plenty of energy for our dream 😊 We have considered the annex option but I have been told that you need planning for this also? So we thought we would see if we can get planning for a separate dwelling and if all else fails we could then re-apply for the annex option. We don’t want to upset the neighbours as they are all so nice. Not sure how neighbours would feel about an air bnb though. 😏 hence the long term rental option. 

[JohnMo]

7 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

You can AB&B an annex

Is a viable option. An example of a 40m² garden room (first I found), could easily be configured to be suitable, add insulation and heating to make it usable 365 days.

https://summerhouse24.co.uk/large-garden-office-hansa-ii-40m2-70mm-4-x-10m/

[Susana]

1 hour ago, DevilDamo said:

If you seek Planning for a 1-bed dwelling, it’ll never be sold as a 2-bed even if you split the internals later.

Hi, may I ask why this is the case? If I for example, purchased a one bedroom bungalow and then reconfigured the interior with building regs to make an extra room why would this not be then classed as a 2 bed bungalow? Or is it to do with the fact that it was a new build? Sorry just confused by this. Thank you 

Edited Thursday at 11:59 by Susana

[Susana]

9 hours ago, IanR said:

 

You might be able to get to the 1 bed 2 person requirement of 58m² with a 2 story chalet, depending on how much area was lost on the 2nd floor due to restricted height, but you wont get to the 2 bed 4 person requirement of 79m² unless the local vernacular would allow a modernism/brutalism, flat roof style.

Hi, thanks for your reply. So do you know how I can work out the loft space? The lower level we have worked out to be 37-40 square metres if we look at floor space and build, as the roof would be a pitched roof how do I calculate the square metres in the loft? It would be velux windows, We may be able to add some extra space downstairs to make up the numbers to the 58 square metres as long as the loft area is enough. Sorry for all the questions but want to have it all clear before we proceed amd I’m not great at maths! Thank you 

[Nickfromwales]

11 minutes ago, Susana said:

Hi, thanks for your reply. So do you know how I can work out the loft space? The lower level we have worked out to be 37-40 square metres if we look at floor space and build, as the roof would be a pitched roof how do I calculate the square metres in the loft? It would be velux windows, We may be able to add some extra space downstairs to make up the numbers to the 58 square metres as long as the loft area is enough. Sorry for all the questions but want to have it all clear before we proceed amd I’m not great at maths! Thank you 

Consider the stairs, and assume that on the least impactful side of the (pyramid) roof, one side would need to be a dormer or full gable. You’d need to have the head height when stood on the top of the stairs, so look for examples of these small dwellings and get ideas for free from other people’s innovation . 
 

Aldo consider just a 1000mm extra footprint each way to beef the m2 up a bit. Or 500mm on the width, 1000mm extra on the depth etc etc.

 

You can mess around with a bit of flat roof in the design, without it becoming ugly from the front view.

[DevilDamo]

8 hours ago, Susana said:

Hi, may I ask why this is the case? If I for example, purchased a one bedroom bungalow and then reconfigured the interior with building regs to make an extra room why would this not be then classed as a 2 bed bungalow? Or is it to do with the fact that it was a new build? Sorry just confused by this. Thank you 

It is more relatable to new build/converted dwellings. They will stress the approval relates to the required space standards.

[DownSouth]

What space does the proposed bungalow have outside for off road parking and garden? Planners will consider parking, ability for cars to turn round safely, etc. Our LA requires all new residential buildings to install electric vehicle charging points as per Building Regs. Have you looked up your LPA’s guidance on parking and provision of garden space? 

[IanR]

11 hours ago, Susana said:

 So do you know how I can work out the loft space? 

 

It would need to be drawn-up in a Section. You upstairs space depends on eaves height, ridge height and foot-print depth. To get the 1st floor to at least 50% of the area of the ground floor is likely to need rear dormer(s) and gables each side (assuming ridge is running side-to-side).

Edited yesterday at 07:13 by IanR

[Nickfromwales]

You could even just put the bathroom up in the roof, and then you’ll only need a cloakroom downstairs. Lots of ways of skinning this cat if you’re prepared to invest time exploring possibilities (and pinching other people’s research / ideas). 💡 

[Susana]

Wow thank you all so much for all your insight. I am going back to the drawing board now to work out a floor plan but the idea of a cloakroom downstairs and a shower room upstairs sounds like a plan, I could add a staircase in the hallway and make an understairs cloakroom maybe. So thank you Nickfromwales for this idea! I also need to figure out how much more the overall build cost will be as I assume it will be almost double. In answer to a previous posters question, the parking area will be about 35 square metres and the rear garden approximately 40 square meters. Both areas can be changed slightly if need be. If I put this new plan through to planning and they reject it, I assume I can re submit my previous plan of a one bed on the ground floor and hoping I won't have to pay for a new planning application fee and just an amendment to the drawing from my chosen architect.?

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Susana

[Susana]

5 hours ago, DownSouth said:

What space does the proposed bungalow have outside for off road parking and garden? Planners will consider parking, ability for cars to turn round safely, etc. Our LA requires all new residential buildings to install electric vehicle charging points as per Building Regs. Have you looked up your LPA’s guidance on parking and provision of garden space? 

I did ask our LPA during a telephone conversation and they said there is no legal size for the rear garden space, it depends on the overall application. I do know the dropped kerb has to be at least 4.8m in depth and no obstacles within a meter either side. It definitely ticks all the boxes for the dropped kerb. I'm hoping as it would only be for 1 or 2 people depending on which route we take, that the rear garden will be sufficient. It's within walking distance to all amenities and open spaces which will hopefully be taken into account.