Is this possible for an extension?

[goingtobefree]

We have a newly built(15 year old) 4 bedroom house and a decent size garden.
Due to various reasons ( school catchment, similar house in an area we want costs double the amount for a similar size house as ours). We want to extend our kitchen into our garden by 10 feet, which will give a very good family kitchen/ diner/ family room.
Is it also possible to do a garage conversion( attached single garage) - which to my understanding should not be a problem. But is it also possible to build a detached garage in from of the house at a later date for storage purposes. We would do the garage conversion only if a new garage can be built and this will be done at a later date . Should we have to apply for planning permission for both or if this can be done at stage?

Is this possible at all, if not back to home hunting..
Advice needed.

[goingtobefree]

Should red in front of the house, we have space for at least 4 cars to be parked although it has lawn at present, it is a corner plot with a small cult de sac to its right.

[Yorky]

I would ring your district council. There should be a duty planner available who will confirm if you need planning permission for any or all of your plans. I would expect getting planning permission for a building in the front garden to be quite tricky as they tend to be protective of the street line - but each council is different. I would apply for as many changes as possible in one planning application, rather than paying for a separate application for each part of the changes.

[Piemistress]

I was googling this today and as said above building out the front isn't so easy. I had read it can be difficult to get permission to build past the existing front line of your house?

[FishfingersAreOK]

Was about to say ^^ - building into the front can be really difficult to get planning for. Could you not rethink about keeping the garage for storage and building over it instead?

[pepperrabbitanddesultorytinsel]

We converted our garage, put a big shed in the back garden for all the crap useful stuff and went out at the front at the same time.
The main criteria were the building line - ie, where the front of the neighbouring houses fell, and we had to have 3.5 parking spaces for 4 (or more) bedrooms.
The neighbours have all sorts of odd fronts (!) so that wasn't a problem but our road is older so most have had something done over the years.
The parking was the key issue, quite why we'd ever be parking 3 and a half cars I'm not sure

[goingtobefree]

Thanks for all your replies. Our house is about 8 feet behind the neighbouring houses so I think it is worth the try. I will have to look into the 3.5 cars, we will certainly have room for three. Does it vary depending on the council. Ours is a fairly new estate, many 4 bed room houses have only car park spaces for 2 cars.

[peckforton]

It will vary from council to council. Also what may be passed this year may not next year due to other developments and objections. It may be worth getting planning permission for the lot at the same time as this lasts 5 years I think.

[Mandy21]

I think it does vary from council to council - I know we've just gone through the planning permission process for an extension and we consulted 2 local architects before submitting plans -- we didn't actually want to build in front of the house but they both said we'd never get permission to build in front of the house - i.e. closer to the road. We have quite a large front garden and side driveway (ample parking) but the issue is to do with the street scene I think where we are. We did have quite a few problems with the council agreeing our plans (we had to amend them in the end) because they insisted that we needed to maintain the existing roof line so the house wouldn't look out of kilter with neighbouriing properties. Also, I tried to phone our council to ask what would and wouldn't be allowed and they said they didn't give verbal advice any more (I think they've had people saying they've coontacted the council and been told they didn't need planning permission etc) which is why we talked to the architects. Once the plans were submitted there was some to-ing and fro-ing between the planning officer and the architect to say how the plans had to be tweeked etc.

IMO therefore (and its obviously only based on my council) I think its highly unllikely that you'd be allowed to build a garage in the front garden.

Obviously slightly different too, but had a friend who put a large shed in their front garden. They were subsequently contacted by the council (think a neighbour complained that it was an eyesore) and they were ordered to remove it.

[goingtobefree]

Oh the garage won't be in the front garden but will be in our driveway. We have a longish garden and drive way compared to any of the other houses in the road.
Even if I get permission to go in the front by about 8 feet to be in line with the other houses( only two) then it will still give me enough room if I convert the existing garage and have the extension bit to store thing( the garages in the new build are never big enough to park a car any way).
Good idea to submit planning permission for both the rear extension(10 feet) and will be using an architect/surveyor for this.

[FishfingersAreOK]

And go for planning permission for "more" than you want - so that your can negotiatate "down" IYSWIM. So ask for a 12 foot garage. If anyone says no "OK well then how about if we just ddo 8 foot" If it appears you are compromising on say only having and 8 foot rather than a 12 foot garage you can often get what you actually wanted. Your architect should be able to advise you on this but apparently often worth it.

[goingtobefree]

Do we have to get permission from all our neighbours before we submit the form?
Or just inform them

[IDontDoIroning]

I looked in to demolishing our garage and rebuilding it . It was some time ago and we haven't actually got round to it but I'm sure I was told that it would be better to build the new garage while the old one was still standing as if we demolished it first we wouldn't have one and then we would need to apply for planning but if the old garage was still standing it would be assumed we had planning for one.

Also if we ever get round to it the new one would be behind the old one and we were told at the time that it would be ok as it wasn't being built nearer the road.

However I agree with others and suggest you phone or drop into your planning office for current advice.

[goingtobefree]

our garage can be accessed from home fro the hallway and our bedroom is above it and our living room is opposite it. so the new garage will be extending from the old one into our driveway by about 8 feet.