Costs involved in full planning permission application

[Willow2220]

Hello,  my husband and I are just beginning looking at the option of a self build, it’s all completely new to us and possibly just a pipe dream (we have only purchased one self build magazine so far ! early days). 

We are trying to get some detailed ideas of the costs involved, particularly with regards to applying for planning permission, and wondered if anyone could help?

Our first real question is can you put in a full planning application with minimal expenditure?

From brief research I understand that the minimum documents you need to include for a full planning permission application are the application form and fee, signed ownership certificate, site or location plan 1:1250, Block plan 1:100 (or 1:200 if rural), elevation drawings – proposed and existing, and a design and access statement. But that doesn’t seem very much so I’m guessing there is more? Environmental/ flood plains?

What other diagrams are often needed?

If we are trying to do as much as possible ourselves then I guess of the above we can do it all apart from the elevation drawings … do you have to have committed to an architect by this point.  And what sort of money would an architect charge for doing just the elevation drawings?

Also, in previous posts someone mentioned a good book, a ‘bible’ of sorts … is there a really good book out there that people have found useful?

Many thanks in advance for any help and advice ?

[Bitpipe]

Number one, stop buying the magazines and save that money.

 

Mark Brinkley's Home Builder's Bible is the book many here refer to - it's a little long in tooth now but still relevant although does not do justice more modern build methods and low energy approaches, however that's what this site is for

 

Do you have a plot / existing dwelling?

 

You will need a topological survey of that first as this is what the planning drawings are based upon. Plus you'll need to buy the locale 'tile' that shows what else is immediately around you.

 

Do you have a house design?

 

This is the tricky part - designing a dwelling that works on the plot (both aesthetically and from a planning perspective), meets your needs and fits your budget. Also need to take services into consideration (especially if you need to make allowance for treatment units vs mains sewage) as this can impact the position. Traffic is also a consideration - you will need emergency vehicle access plus be able to safely join the main road, turn a car etc. Any design will need to meet the local plan otherwise it will get rejected on that basis. 

 

One you have a design that works, the necessary documents are easy enough to generate.

 

While some here (i.e.  @JSHarris ) have done it all themselves, most others rely on the services of an architect or architectural technician or even a turnkey design / build service from a company (generally more expensive but you save VAT on professional fees).

 

Many architect's will give you a free consultation and lay out a fee structure that takes you to planning approval. Zero obligation to use them after this, you can part company at any stage - lots of options to get your detailed (BC) design completed, discharge planning conditions etc.

 

So, if you have the skills & knowledge or are prepared to spend time accumulating them then you will only really incur the planning app fees.

 

However the best lesson from 'The Bible' is the cost / quality / time triangle. You can have have two at the expense of the third.

 

This applies from the outset - if you want the cheapest possible planning app with no professional input, it will take time and/or you may be compromising on the quality of the design (and the application) leading to it getting rejected or getting permission for something you don't really want.

[Jeremy Harris]

I did pretty much the whole design, plans, planning permission, building control submission etc myself, having had no previous experience of it at all, other than a bit of DIY over the years.  I found it a steep learning curve, but as I was time rich and cash poor I didn't mind spending a lot of time getting to grips with everything, although this was helped by there being a year of enforced delay between having our offer for our plot accepted and actually exchanging contracts, because of some legal issues that the vendor needed to resolve.

 

The one advantage I had was being reasonably competent at producing drawings, and being familiar with using CAD (which itself is a steep learning curve if you've not used it before).  The one professional service I had was a topographical survey, which provided me with the base model from which I could produce pretty much every drawing.  This cost around £400, IIRC, and the survey company provided me with an electronic copy of the file that I could just load into AutoCAD and work with straight away.

 

The hardest bit of the whole process I found was getting the design to look right.  Drawing up houses in CAD is easy, but not being an architect, or having any experience of architectural design, meant I struggled a lot to get a design that actually looked OK, as well as having all the functionality we wanted.

[ToughButterCup]

34 minutes ago, Willow2220 said:

[...]

some detailed ideas of the costs involved, particularly with regards to applying for planning permission,

[...]

 

Reading between the lines - maximum bang for minimum buck.

 

Apply for Outline Planning Permission. Forget full planning permission and forget design - that can all be sorted out later. Why do I suggest that?

Full PP and design cost more Outline PP. And your taste will change over time. 

 

Do you have a site in mind? Sites vary a lot. So will the costs involved. 

[ultramods]

I have a list of all the professional fees for my self build.

 

 

 

Depending on your plot you may also need to pay for:

- Ecological/Bat survey

- Soil Survey

- Test Pits

 

I created the floor plans for our house and the external "vision", then an Architectural Technologist drew up the plans professionally and submitted the plans to the council.

 

As you can see from the fees above, to get to approved planning permission wasn't too expensive, we had 3D renders completed for £1200, that may not be needed. 

 

Unless you are very confident that you could design a house that is visually appealing, works well for you functionally, makes best use of the plot and most importantly will gain planning approval (think about the design of neighboring houses, local planning strategy, neighbors possibly objecting, conservation area etc) I would recommend having some sort of professional helping you with the planning phase.

 

If I was to do it again, I would:

 

Do exactly the same as I have up to the planning approval, with the exception of not having the 3D renders completed by the Architect. If I needed 3D renders to support the planning application I would get a specialist such us https://www.facebook.com/touch3dvisualisation/ to provide the 3D renders.

 

Once I had planning permission and I was going to build using timberframe I would then ask several timber frame companies to quote for completing the structural engineering drawings, building warrant and finally producing the timber frame. I would do it this way as you are then only dealing with one company rather than 2 - 3, which I think would make the timeline up until the kit arriving on site faster (based on my experience).

 

The reason I wouldn't ask the timber frame company to also do the initial design of the house and the building warrant is because I wouldn't want to be tied to a particular company as they may possibly charge you more, for the building warrant and kit etc as they know you are tied to them.

 

Your other option could be to see if any of the timber frame companies have existing designs that you like as then you could get pricing from them before committing to them. Scotframe for example have various house designs to choose from.

 

[Moonshine]

10 minutes ago, ultramods said:

Depending on your plot you may also need to pay for:

- Ecological/Bat survey

- Soil Survey

- Test Pits

 

add to that, potential 

 

- Air quality 

- Noise assessment

[Moonshine]

53 minutes ago, Bitpipe said:

You will need a topological survey of that first as this is what the planning drawings are based upon. Plus you'll need to buy the locale 'tile' that shows what else is immediately around you.

 

you can get some lidar information for free

 

https://environment.data.gov.uk/DefraDataDownload/?Mode=survey

 

[Willow2220]

Many thanks for all your answers, they’re all really helpful.  Have been so pleased to find this forum, no doubt will have many many more questions … and lots more reading up to do, am loving the blogs.

 

[Bitpipe]

1 hour ago, Willow2220 said:

Many thanks for all your answers, they’re all really helpful.  Have been so pleased to find this forum, no doubt will have many many more questions … and lots more reading up to do, am loving the blogs.

 

 

 

Great - many of us had zero prior experience to building anything more complicated than an Ikea wardrobe and have all come out the other end.

 

Obviously relevant skills & knowledge are very useful but they're not a prerequisite.

[Bored Shopper]

For a total layman, the Housebuilder Bible was absolutely fabulous read, before that I had no idea at all what it means to build a house from scratch. Obvioulsy, thing change in real life faster than they publish *th edition of the HouseBible (as DH came to call it), but some ground rules and a bit of insight into how the industry works is great. Mine copy of HB is now all feathered with sticky notes for future reference.

[Ferdinand]

On 16/01/2019 at 16:45, ultramods said:

I have a list of all the professional fees for my self build.

 

 

 

Depending on your plot you may also need to pay for:

- Ecological/Bat survey

- Soil Survey

- Test Pits

 

I created the floor plans for our house and the external "vision", then an Architectural Technologist drew up the plans professionally and submitted the plans to the council.

 

As you can see from the fees above, to get to approved planning permission wasn't too expensive, we had 3D renders completed for £1200, that may not be needed. 

 

Unless you are very confident that you could design a house that is visually appealing, works well for you functionally, makes best use of the plot and most importantly will gain planning approval (think about the design of neighboring houses, local planning strategy, neighbors possibly objecting, conservation area etc) I would recommend having some sort of professional helping you with the planning phase.

 

If I was to do it again, I would:

 

Do exactly the same as I have up to the planning approval, with the exception of not having the 3D renders completed by the Architect. If I needed 3D renders to support the planning application I would get a specialist such us https://www.facebook.com/touch3dvisualisation/ to provide the 3D renders.

 

Once I had planning permission and I was going to build using timberframe I would then ask several timber frame companies to quote for completing the structural engineering drawings, building warrant and finally producing the timber frame. I would do it this way as you are then only dealing with one company rather than 2 - 3, which I think would make the timeline up until the kit arriving on site faster (based on my experience).

 

The reason I wouldn't ask the timber frame company to also do the initial design of the house and the building warrant is because I wouldn't want to be tied to a particular company as they may possibly charge you more, for the building warrant and kit etc as they know you are tied to them.

 

Your other option could be to see if any of the timber frame companies have existing designs that you like as then you could get pricing from them before committing to them. Scotframe for example have various house designs to choose from.

 

 

Twice as much on mortgage fees as on the architect designing it.

 

Ouch.

[Big Jimbo]

I just wanted to say hi, and to let you know that i have found this site great. I have done the whole thing on my own so far. (Two houses in the greenbelt) I have done all the drawings by hand, because i am rubbish with computers. I have done all the studies myself, such as sight lines, bulk, mass, sight coverage etc, and the design and access statement (72 pages) I know the NPPF backwards, forwards, and sideways. It has been very hard work, but basically has only cost me £840. Which was the application fee to the council. I spoke to several Architects, and a number of planning consultants, who frankly all seemed more interested in getting my money, than actually trying to understand what i was trying to achieve. I was quoted between 15 and 20 thousand total to get me to planning..... If i manage to get my application through, i will have saved a lot of money.......If, that's the question.  But , to be honest it has been very, very hard work... Would i do it again on my own....Hell yeah, but only after a bloody long break, and a damn good holiday.