Do’s and Dont’s…
Planning in General – This would most definitely be the first stage of your ideas coming to life. Most new buildings and changes to existing buildings, including changes to the local environment would need planning permission from your local planning authority. Without proper planning regulations in place, people could create structures as and how they wished without regard for their surroundings and / or health and safety regulations. Parliament has set rules whereby planning permission may not always be required, a development or modification under this rule set would be considered as “permitted development”. Remember, your local planning authority is responsible for deciding if a development should go ahead. In either case, you would need the Building Control team involved.
Your Responsibilities – The owner of the property is ultimately responsible for compliance to planning rules and building regulations, this is regardless of whether you actually require planning permission or building regulations approval or not. Failure to comply with the relevant rules and regulations can result in the owner being liable for any remedial action which could mean enforcement action to either demolish or restore. The general advice is to always discuss your proposals with your local planning authority and building control team prior to starting any work.
We can help you – At iHome, we use the most skilled architects, designers and planners who have extensive experience and excellent in-depth industry knowledge, they will know exactly what you would need to do to get your ideas off to a good start.
The Risk Factor
What are the Risks? – If things go wrong right from the start, what could be the worst that could happen? Well, as mentioned above, your blessed and hard worked for rear extension or outhouse could be pulled down, but not just by enforcement action from local regulators, but also due to unsafe structure design and incorrect construction procedures. We’ve seen several cases where people have had to spend thousands on corrective action after already having paid out thousands initially to get the job done.
Time – We understand that converting your empty loft space into a bedroom or putting up a double storey extension to the side of your property may be one of the biggest decisions you’ve taken or are taking. We also understand that taking such a decision may take some time. For this reason, we give you the time that you require to decide exactly what you want and how you want it.
More to follow…
