House prices are always on the rise. They climb and soar to the point that makes moving home an unachievable dream for most of us.
And so we stay put. We stick with what we have and try and adapt it to meet our needs. We have a family. Take up a new hobby. Our parents move in.
And we end up needing more space. The only way to do that is with an extension.
But before you jump in head first to the installation, there are a few things you might want to consider...
Design
The look and feel of your property is important. If it has features that are prominent and give your home personality then you’re going to want a design that’s in tune with this unique identity.
If you can, try to build with similar materials to those already used on your property. This’ll help keep in step with the look of your property and the others around it.
Don’t forget about your neighbours
Sure, this is your dream. You need the extra space. It isn’t anyone else’s business.
Or is it...
What about your neighbours? How much disruption will it cause them?
You’re going to need them on your side when the time comes to obtaining planning permission.
So before you do anything, head out of your house and knock on doors in your community. Lay out your plans to them. Inform them of how long it’ll take. How many builders will roughly be on site and so on...
Discussing this in advance could save you some lengthy planning problems further down the line.
Ask for advice
Many people decide to take the planning and design phase on themselves.
In most cases, this leads to problems. You should always hire an experienced professional who can offer advice and guidance not just in the design phase, but the planning permission and build phase too.
Planning permission
Before any work is carried out you must obtain planning permission. This is in place so that councils can control the way neighbourhoods and towns are developed. So they can keep an eye on land development, heritage sites, damage to the environment etc.
It can be a difficult process for the uninitiated. So if you want help acquiring it, contact us today. At Planning Matters we know exactly how to see that your project approved. And we’ll stop at nothing to ensure that this is done.