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All Just just about Your BedroomPlanning Permission Tips UK - Loft Conversions in UK Properties - Do They Add Value?
by:
Martin Meaks
We get a great many a requests to view the potential of Loft conversions. This type of extension has remained fairly popular since I 1st started designing property & is maybe even as more in demand now than ever before - especially in dense urban areas wherever
the alternative choices for that fourth bedchamber are somewhat limited.
Now, the popular press would-be have you believe that they do not add value or have limited appeal. However, that blanket broad brush, slightly disrespectful opinion makes not ring true for most of our clients. So what is going on? As always, the devil is in the detail - the detail in this respect is in the main focussed on two primary areas:
1. DESIGN and 2. DESIGN.
It's just like the location, location location catchword for home values & desirability. Fortunately, the planners have got to grips with a lot of loft conversions these days & they now have a great more control of schemes that a few years ago could have been built under Permissible
Development. This means that they have encompassed 'good design guides' in an attempt to stamp out the ugly full dimension
box window
that turned a beautiful victorian semi into a thing
that looks like a car fourpenny packing crate trying to escape from a neighbours roof.
Conversely, many a folk have argued that the 'chocolate box' home type pointy roofed dormers (as advisable
by the planners) are quite just impractical & do not provide enough space for a fully functional room which in many a cases is a really valid & true point. HOWEVER, life is all just about compromises & choices have to be made. Fortunately, most members of the public are now becoming far more 'design aware' than they ever used to be & slowly by slowly they are beginning to accept that the formation of more space must not be at the expense of a poor external visual impact that just jars with the whole look of the locality. This type of poor window
design can not only decrease the value of your own home but that of the neighbours as well.
But yet once more there are exceptions. Several suburbs of London for example have a embarrassment of these types of loft extensions & the ones that have not yet been reborn look out of place. These types of areas pay more attention to the internal design of the living space than the awful
externals - goes with the environment I suppose. Also, several areas are 70's & 80's built estates wherever
the whole so called 'architect design' was for this style of flat roofed box window
which is a ordinarily accepted fact for the area & enjoyed by many.
So, back to my innovational question - Makes a loft conversion or extension add value? In my opinion YES in much
all cases husking a few exceptions. Should it be my 1st select of human action development if my site has close
ground that allows alternative solutions? Well no in my opinion unless your property is a bungalow. A loft conversion for the standard 2 construction abode home (detached, semi or terrace) should maybe be on the 'last option' list rather than your 1st select - more to do with folks perceptions rather than thing
scientific I could quote.
When we assess a loft conversions viability we run through a sort of assessment check list before we advise our clients & we always steer them towards good looking, well balanced, recessed type of pitched roof dormers at the sacrifice of several space rather than the 'ugly duckling' alternative. However, like all services, many a clients do not value the external look as more & they insist on the largest window
possible especially if it can be constructed under the sites Permissible
Development allowances (no planning permission necessary) - Do we still take the job? - yes of course we do its our living but our sign board ne'er
goes up during the construction works.
Some folk subscribing to our news letter may value our 'design lead' approach so we schedule below several of our assessment criteria relating to loft conversions that you may find useful:-
1. Makes it need Planning Permission - If so utilising the councils design guides is a must. Several front or side facing dormers may still be resisted even as if they are small. Velux windows often overcome these objections. In most cases, big large
box dormers wish not be allowed.
2. What area of new space makes the client require - Many a clients have ambitious
floor space targets & visualise 3 bedrooms for example (all with ensuite of course). They fail to appreciate the loss of floor space caused by the extensive sloping soffits, & the new stairs.
3. Wherever
can the new support
set go - Many a clients fail to realise that their preferred location for the stairs makes not attain the required head room inside
the new floor for example. In most cases several existing floor space of the bedrooms for example wish need to be sacrificed.
4. It is better to attain one or two good fourpenny functional rooms to compensate for the lack of head room in several areas of the new rooms rather than trying to cram in the bedchamber amount for the sake of it wherever
the new rooms can become nothing more than single bed sleeping podules with really little constitutional pleasantness value.
5. If flat roofed dormers can only be achieved due to the low ridge height then split the dormers into 2 or three smaller ones with no more than 1200mm (4') wide windows to break up its bulk. Always, always always recess the window
into the roof slope to reduce the dormers bulk - DO NOT BUILD THE EXTERNAL FACE OF THE Window
WALL OFF THE EXISTING EXTERNAL WALL OF THE HOUSE.
6. If a client wants a conversion with only Velux type roof lights then all well & good (much cheaper as well). However an exercise should be completed to explore the possibilities of a strategically set window
or two that often frees up an extra 30% floor area that the client may not have complete for really little extra money.
7. Dormers are not the only design resolution to more light & space - consideration could as well be given to a hip to gable conversion of the side roof for example that wont look out of keeping (unless your a semi of course).
8. As a rule of thumb to the usefulness
of your new room in the roof - if you can already touch the ridge board once
standing in the loft (about 2.3M or less), then its commonly too small to form useful functioning bedrooms unless a large
box window
is constructed (which is what we are trying to avoid) If it is an area just for a play room or a study then all well & good but beware, many a folk have embarked on tight loft conversions only to realise too late that that they have no wherever
to place the bed or locate a wardrobe.
There are a great many a different issues to consider as well once
complementary loft conversions such as overheating, fire regs, weather protection during the works etc. & these are major discussion topics in themselves that I wish leave for another day. However, the points listed above are the main ones relative to the external design & appearance of loft conversions.
Just just about the author:
Our 'Maximum Build Planning Guide' explains further the plan of action involved once
developing a site with a loft conversion or extension & how to give yourself the better chance of being granted a planning permission or planning approval.
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