Here are some of my personal suggestions to help get you started. Please do your own further research, as different areas in the UK will have different rules and regulations.
Are you planning a home extension in the UK? but don’t know where to start?
Here are some of my personal suggestions to help get you started. Please do your own further research as different areas in the UK have slightly different rules and regulations.
Knowing Your ‘Why?’
It’s hard to know where to start when you are planning a home extension. To keep you motivated throughout the process it is important to know your ‘Why?’. Our ‘why’ was our growing family but we also needed to stay local because of the extended family. Lastly, we did not want to overstretch ourselves with a bigger mortgage or break the bank as the area we live in has gone up in price.
Once we decided we were extending we had to prioritise which areas (or rooms) needed extended and renovating. This is to help me stay focused and not spend money in areas where we do not spend much of our time. For example overspending on flooring in some rooms where there is no high traffic.
Hire An Architect
Once you have made your decision on your ‘why’. It is important to hire a professional architect or designer to bring your vision to life and to assist where necessary with designing your home and helping with planning permission.
I interviewed 7 architects and finally settled on ‘Freedom Home Architects’ because:
- They had planning application experience with my local council.
- They were great value for money compared to other architect quotes we received.
- They had great reviews across a number of different platforms including, www.yelp.com and www.mybuilder.com
- They made the process and pricing structure clear and easy to understand.
- They were able to help us find a private building control company to assess our build and award us with building regulation certification once complete.
- They were able to use their in-house civil engineer to provide us with technical drawings and calculations which can be used to help source a builder/ contractor as they can provide you with an accurate estimated cost for the build using these drawings.
Planning Permission
Our architect helped us to draw plans and get the necessary paperwork in order to apply for planning permission to the council. Once submitted it can take 8-10 weeks in the UK to hear whether your design has been approved or rejected. It is crucial you get this right so you are not causing further delays to your project.
Party Wall Agreements
Party wall agreements are needed if you share a wall or a garden fence with your neighbor and you are doing major works within 3 meters of their home. Please check with the local council and I highly recommend appointing a surveyor to help with serving party wall agreements as this can vary depending on the type of work you are carrying out. If your neighbor refuses to sign an agreement it can get quite costly trying to sort this out. We are lucky enough to have a good relationship with both our neighbors and had no problems with them signing the necessary agreements.
Hiring A Builder/Contractor
Tradesmen and builders have a bad reputation, so it is scary trying to source one, who will not let you down. I had a very positive experience using tradesmen from www.Mybuilder.com Tradesmen on here are relying on positive feedback to build up their reputation so they usually go above and beyond. It was important for us to find a local builder because I wanted someone who was close to our home in case of emergencies. Plus it’s a bonus if they can stay onsite longer as they do not live too far.
Testimonials mean nothing to me without physical evidence. I need to see your workmanship. I need to see the homes they have renovated before I can hire them. So as well as looking at review sites online, I also set about driving around my local area looking for homes that seemed newly renovated from the outside. I posted a short note through their letterbox complimenting them on their home and asking if they were happy with their builder; and if so, please can you send your builder’s contact details. This worked quite well and I managed to get 4 out of 19 replies providing me details of their builder.
Although we interviewed and obtained quotes from several builders, we finally decided on going with my neighbor who owns his own building company. He is also undertaking major renovation works on his home, so we decided to start the project at the same time to save on costs.
Timelines and costs
The above process can take up to 12-13 weeks before construction can begin. Our planning costs are broken down as follows, not including VAT:
- Architect costs including drawings – £1700
- Council planning costs £128
- Engineering calculations £420
- Permitted Development and prior approval council fees £221 +£213 (we had to resubmit one of our plans)
- Building Control company £1050
The above process can take up to 12-13 weeks before construction can begin. Good luck and hope this post helped.
