At last, the planners are beginning to understand the demand for loft conversions.

I found this on the web and found it interesting,

Its from the Daily Mail

Click here

Good news in from the ‘loft group’ at the FMB, They have started to discuss the new changes that may come into effect this year. It will happen either at the end of April 2008 or at the end of November 2008. I know theres a bit of difference in the times but for all those people holding on for the new changes it should be well worth the wait.

At the moment every house has a certain allowance that it can be extended, for a mid terrace the allowance is 50 meters cubed and out of that 50 only 40 meters cubed can be used in the loft. For a Detached and Semi Detached house the allowance is 70 meters cubed and out of that 70 only 50 meters cubed can be used for the loft.

So if a mid terraced house (50m3) had a ground floor extension that had already used 40 meters cubed, there is only 10 meters cubed remaining which wouldn’t be enough to do a dormer under Permitted Development (PD). This means you would have to do the loft conversion under a Planning Application. This may cause problems like restrictions and guidelines that you have to follow in certain boroughs. A can of worms some might say…

Not any more!!!

The biggest change that is pending with the government is the allowance (PD) to be separated from loft conversions and other extensions that may exsist.

This means that if your house already has a side or rear extension you can still apply for a loft under PD. (40m3 for a mid terrace and 59m3 for a Detached or Semi)

This is also going to help houses that need hip to gables.

At the moment 90% of the councils around the country will never allow Hip to gables under Planning Permission. The only type of conversion you can do to a hip to gable is a side dormer. Side dormers cost the same as a hip to gable but only give you a third of the space. A lot of people have put off converting there lofts because of this and if they change the law i think the councils around the country will soon be inundated with the thousands of home owners ready to convert there lofts.

The FMB really need to push the government to decide on a fixed date for these changes. When the decisions made the local councils will need to start passing the extra applications before the chosen date otherwise they will just be in the same situation there in now… To many people wanting to convert there homes, to many applications for the council to cope with and a 56 day waiting list applications to be granted…

There is a small chance that this new law may not come out at all but the chances are very slim.

Unfortunately the new law will not apply to purpose built flats or converted flats, Conservation areas or second grade listed buildings. Sorry.

Some roof spaces are more easier to convert then others in terms of size, shape and construction.

The major thing you need to have when wanting to convert your loft is head hight. if theres lots of height there’s much more of a certainty that you will be able to convert your loft. The higher the better and even when you cant get planning permission for lets say a rear dormer if theres a good head hight, you can still just convert inside space of the loft and still make a very good sized loft room and maybe even a shower room or bathroom.

The minimum head height you will need to do a loft conversion is 2.2m (7′2″) but you will need a dormer as the space is so restricted.

If your loft is under 2.2m then its pretty much a non starter. It will still be worth getting a quote through from your local builder though as there is a special way not losing any height in the loft called triperling the joists, or you could lower the ceilings but that will depend on the windows on the 1st floor and if theres enough space.

You achieve this dimension by measuring the top of the ceiling joists to the underside of your ridge board.

Some builders you might come across may say they can convert your loft even if it a bit smaller but please do be very careful. If you decide to take your builder up on his offer do make sure you get some sort or agreement between you both before the build commences the works.

Imagine being 3 or 4 weeks into the build and the floor and stairs have finally go in… the last thing you want to be arguing about with your builder is the new bedroom head height. He’s promised you a good head height but it ends up being 5′6″

The reason you need 2.2m or more is because once the new steels and the floor joists have gone in over the existing ceilings, the head height will easily be reduced by 150mm (approx).

Secondly you have to allow for all the new plasterboard, plaster, insulation and carpet/wood flooring etc. Taking all this into account, the total height lost in the loft will be around 180 to 200 mm.

Obversely on a 2.2m high loft a finished head height would be around 2m (6′6″) which is fine if your only 5′ tall but if someone was 6′4″ was buying your house it may be a problem for the purchaser if they cant use the loft room properly…

There are a few ways to convert your loft without having a good head height though but please do take professional advice and discuss all of your options before beginning the loft project.

If your property is on a corner site where the side or the rear faces a road or any public way, then unfortunately you will have to apply for planning permission. this is to protect the council from stopping you doing something they don’t like to the side or rear of your property. If you live with a house with a hip to gable and you have Permitted Development rights then you will be fine unless you are at the end of the street and a road runs alongside you property, then unfortunately you will have to go for planning permission.

BUT…!

If you extend parallel with the road then you will be OK under Permitted Development. Its just not towards the road…

This council formula works for public roads that run along the back of the houses too. Even though this is very rare, the dormer projecting towards the road will need planning permission and if a hip to gable is needed, this could be done under PD.

I saw this loft conversion and couldn’t believe my eyes. How this could get passed by the local council ill never know! (thats if it was ever passed in the first place)
For starters the dormer has been built at least two foot over the ridge beam and it was built facing a public road which makes it even harder to imagine it was given consent.

Its the most Awful shape and is half a dormer and half a mansard. HOW DISGUSTING!!!

Pre 1949 was after the second world war the local councils started collecting plans, and maintaining a database of the properties in their borough so they could find out at anytime what extensions were done when, what designs they were allowing to be done, and even though at the time weren’t very strict had the control to say what and wasn’t aloud to be built.

Anything before “Pre” 1949 that even though may look like an add on extension, can’t actually be proven by the council that it was so they decided to allow all extensions built before 1949 to be part of the existing house.
This means all of those houses will still have their full permitted development rights as well as their “existing extension” A very good situation to be in when wanting to extend your house because you can also make deals with the councils with what you want to achieve, and make it look like because the house will be well over extended which equates to angry neighbors that the council wont want to deal with. So It just gives you that little bit on the council which helps alot when gaining planning permission…

You can usually do alot of work to your property without getting planning permission. Here are a few points on what you can do but please CHECK FIRST.

1. As mentioned in other “Certificate of lawfulness” blogs you can do dormers/ Dormer windows as long as they’re below the ridge height, not on the front roof slope and under your 50 or 70 cubic metre limit for extending the house. CHECK FIRST to make sure there are no hidden extensions that you didn’t know about as it could cost you dearly in the long term…

2. Aerials, up two slandered sizes are allowed either satellite dishes, TV aerials or similar equipment. (Except large communal dishes) Please CHECK FIRST as other criteria may apply.

3. Oil storage tanks holding less than 3,500 litres, and less than 3 metres high. They also have to be placed either in line or behind the front wall of the house.

4. Gates, Walls or Fences to the front of the property under Permitted Development have to be less then 1 metre high next to a road used by vehicles and allowed to be 2 metres high every where else.

5. Garages less than 5 metres from the house count as an extension. so the whole garage will have to be taken into account. If the garage was built at the same time as the house or built pre 1949 then the council will class the garage as an existing structure. If the garage is more than 5 metres from the house then it will be classed as a shed.

6. Sheds, Greenhouses and Garages (see above) are more than 5 metres from the house will be classed as permitted development. This is only if they are built 3 metres high (4 metres from the ridge height if it is a sloped roof) and if the structure is covering less then 50% of the garden.

7. New Windows (including Velux roof lights in the front slope) and Doors to the house are aloud to be maintained and painted or replaced but please CHECK to make sure you’re not living in a listed building.

8. Porches to the front of the property less than 3 square metres in floor area, no more then 3 metres high and more than 2 metres from a footpath or public road.

9. Block paving or Hard standing to the front of the house .

PLEASE NOTE THAT OTHER CONSENTS MAY BE NEEDED SUCH AS BUILDING REGULATIONS OR IF YOUR HOUSE IS A LISTED BUILDING OR IN A CONSERVATION AREA. OCCASIONALLY MORE RESTRICTIVE RULES DO APPLY IN SOME COUNCIL BOROUGHS SO PLEASE DO CHECK FIRST.

Permitted development is an allowance in which you can extend your property without having to achieve planning permission.

For a detached or semi-detached property an allowance of 70 cubic metres is allowed in total (only 50 cubic meters of the 70 are allowed for the loft)

And for a terrace or end of terrace an allowance of 50 cubic metres is allowed in total (only 40 cubic meters are allowed in the loft.)

e.g If you lived in a semi detached that already has a rear extension of around 30 cubic metres. This property would have 40 cubic metres left for the loft conversion. If the rear extension was only 18 cubic metres then you would still have the total amount of 50cu metres to use for the loft.

If you lived in a terrace house with an extension of 20 cubic metres then you would have 30 cubic metres left for the loft.

Please note that a listed building or a conservation area has it’s permitted development rights completely removed, and will always need planning permission.