Planning permission can be extremely confusing, especially if you don’t have an in-depth knowledge of the ins-and-outs. It does not matter if you want to reduce the size of your existing home or you have your eyes on a property that needs to be fixed (commonly known as a ‘fixer-upper’), it is vital that you know the planning requirements that you need to fulfil before you can convert your property into flats.
Well, luckily for you, we are one of the biggest and most reputable planning consultants in the North West. Our expert team has the knowledge necessary to provide the very best advice on what you will come up against when you start to turn your home into flats.
So, Do You Actually Need Planning Permission?
The short answer is: yes. However, I wouldn’t click off just yet. In this blog post, we are going to outline the building regulations that you should be aware of, as well as pre-applications.
Any specific project that takes a residence and separates it into different units must undergo a full and complete planning application before it proceeds. It is also important to note that your Permitted development rights will not apply here.
You should also know that if the building that you want to convert into flats is a listed building, it is extremely likely that you will need to obtain a ‘listed building consent’ too. Our team can advise on this if you need us to do; you can contact us on 01925 357 008.
Utilise Pre-Applications
One of the main issues with splitting your home up into separate flats is that it can be quite combative when it comes to what you need to do. You need to meet very strict guidelines on room and flat sizes, and you also need to think about local parking rules and the policy that your own council has. Every single council in the UK set their own planning standards and it’s quite common for one area to have a strict policy on completely rejecting flat conversions. Well, this is where a pre-application comes in.
What Does A Pre-Application Involve?
A pre-application includes having a mostly informal meeting with your planning officer (in person, over email, or by phone). This is your chance to discuss the practicality of your ideas, alongside issues that you could face.
If you go down this route of early planning, both yourself and your designer will be able to understand what conditions you must meet before any of the costly work occurs. As well as this, you should also speak to your planning consultants before purchase if you are buying a property solely to convert into flats; you don’t want to purchase the building and then run into a dead-end when it comes to the planning permission requirements.
Building Regulations: What You Should Know
The concerns around planning the home to flat conversion are not the only things you should be thinking about; UK building regulations are also necessary to know.
If you do not know what building regulations actually are, they are a set of legal requirements that every single building must meet in order to create a healthy and safe environment to reside in. The regulations themselves cover everything from soundproofing, drainage, and heating performance to building structure and fire safety. Before you proceed with the home conversion project, you should ensure that it is in line with the building regulations in the UK. One of the best ways to do this is by creating some ‘technical drawings’ of your proposed build so that your building contractor has a set of detailed instructions on how to meet every single statutory requirement.
How Our Team Can Help You
As we have mentioned above, the team here at MPD has worked as planning consultants for a long time. With many years’ worth of experience in the planning industry, we have the knowledge and expertise needed to provide the very best planning consultancy services in Merseyside and beyond. Due to the fact that we have been operating for so long, we have an unrivalled, detailed knowledge of the local authorities and their regulations.
If you are thinking about converting your property into flats but are unsure of what you actually need to do, our company can help; we are here to give a reliable service to all of our clients. You can contact us by calling 01925 357 008 or by sending an email to info@mpdbuiltenv.co.uk. Alternatively, you can visit our contact page and fill out our online form.
You can find out more about the types of planning applications here.
