Planning Permission Poster

Related posts:

1. Planning Department Response We have finally had a response to our Pre Planning Enquiry, which says that in the opinion of the planning officer they can see no...
2. Planning Application Update Regular readers will know that we are planning an extension to our kitchen, there is some debate as to if we will need planning permission...
3. Planning application submitted We have finally managed to get our planning application submitted following the delays of the planning enquiry. Hopefully we will get a quick response. I...
4. Kitchen Extension Project Goes ahead We had our builder round last night to discuss a few things regarding our kitchen extension/orangery project. We needed to clarify some things and change...
5. Planning Enquiry Frustrations As you will know we are planning some work on our kitchen, this involves an extension to the property and therefore we have got into...

Orangery Kitchen Extension Rear Elevation

I am rather busy at the moment working at another of our properties, getting it ready for sale, but when I get some time I want to re-work the project plan as we now know the maximum time that the planning application process will take as the Planning committee have to give a decision within 8 weeks of receiving the application.

As I have said before, if the plans are drawn up, and the go-ahead comes early all we need to do is pull the whole project forward the relevant time, but it is critical that I know this plan as there are lead times on ordering certain items, underfloor heating, kitchen units, hardwood floor etc.

Finally some good news on the project!

Related posts:

1. Planning Department Response We have finally had a response to our Pre Planning Enquiry, which says that in the opinion of the planning officer they can see no...
2. Planning Application Update Regular readers will know that we are planning an extension to our kitchen, there is some debate as to if we will need planning permission...
3. Planning Enquiry Frustrations As you will know we are planning some work on our kitchen, this involves an extension to the property and therefore we have got into...
4. Kitchen Building Project – Frustrating delays As you may already know we have been planning a re-development of our kitchen and dining room. The plans for which have developed greatly over...
5. Planning Permission update We now have a yellow poster on the lamp post outside out house. This states that any objections must be raised by the 7th September....

This is good news, although, we were hoping that they might come back and say it did not need any planning permission, this is positive.

What is more the planning committee and planning department is legally bound to resolve the planning application within 8 weeks and not the 12 weeks we thought it would be, so as such there is still a possibility we will be able to get the kitchen extension and orangery done this year.

It may mean that we are starting the project and the build in the first week of October at the latest but at least that will mean that the build part of the project can be completed before the end of October thus hopefully avoiding any of the really bad weather or critically the frosts which could cause problems for footings and new brickwork.

This will mean that the schedule is very tight to get the project done before Christmas, however, I will re-jig the project plan with these dates in mind and see where it leaves us.

It maybe that we get approval sooner than the 8 weeks and if so we can just bring everything in the project plan forward, but my project plan will be worst case scenario.

We have already instructed our planner to go ahead and submit the final application to the Planning Office as soon as possible, so we await news that it has been submitted

Related posts:

1. Planning Application Update Regular readers will know that we are planning an extension to our kitchen, there is some debate as to if we will need planning permission...
2. Planning application submitted We have finally managed to get our planning application submitted following the delays of the planning enquiry. Hopefully we will get a quick response. I...
3. Planning Enquiry Frustrations As you will know we are planning some work on our kitchen, this involves an extension to the property and therefore we have got into...
4. Kitchen Extension Project Goes ahead We had our builder round last night to discuss a few things regarding our kitchen extension/orangery project. We needed to clarify some things and change...
5. Planning Permission update We now have a yellow poster on the lamp post outside out house. This states that any objections must be raised by the 7th September....

As it was not at all clear if the work would need planning we took the decision that we would make a planning enquiry. This is a facility offered by the council where you can send them a sketch plan and measurements of what you are planning to do and they will look at it within your situation and give you advice as to if it requires planning and if it does what their thoughts on the likelihood of it being accepted would be when the full planning application went through.

The planning office promise to get an answer to this enquiry within two weeks of of its receipt. Which we considered to be worthwhile. In actual fact the area of the new extension that will be outside the 3 meter from the original house rule would be very small. The extension mostly replaces what is already there rather than creates new. The only part outside the 3 meter rule is a corner area about 1m square. And as such we were hoping that they would come back with the pragmatic approach that it did not need planning.

All that was five weeks ago and we are still awaiting an answer. The person dealing with our enquiry has been on holiday, out on site and too busy with applications. We have been promised a letter several times. The latest being the end of this week so we will see what happens.

This is causing us a great deal of problems. If we do need to go through a full planning application which it is looking it it will do, this process will take between 8 and 12 weeks and as such will take the project into the winter months and the unsettled weather.  This will ultimately mean that we will have to delay this project until next year which will then end up costing us considerably more money due to the raise in VAT to 20%.

I also know that our planner, builder and orangery fitters are all crying out for work in the current climate, this form of delay only serves to damage the local economy. If the new coalition government wants to look at ways of triggering the economy sorting these sorts of issues cutting out the delays and forcing the planning departments to stick to the deadlines that they publish would mean that everyone knows where they are and can plan for these projects.

As you can see I am getting very frustrated by this. We are currently in a limbo where we have a great deal of work that we need to do but effectively can not do any of it.

Related posts:

1. Planning Department Response We have finally had a response to our Pre Planning Enquiry, which says that in the opinion of the planning officer they can see no...
2. Planning application submitted We have finally managed to get our planning application submitted following the delays of the planning enquiry. Hopefully we will get a quick response. I...
3. Planning Application Update Regular readers will know that we are planning an extension to our kitchen, there is some debate as to if we will need planning permission...
4. Kitchen Extension Project Goes ahead We had our builder round last night to discuss a few things regarding our kitchen extension/orangery project. We needed to clarify some things and change...
5. Kitchen Building Project – Frustrating delays As you may already know we have been planning a re-development of our kitchen and dining room. The plans for which have developed greatly over...

Out planned came back to us today so say that she had been in contact with the planning office to see if they had got a chance to see out inquiry. Their first thought was that we did need planning permission for the work, but then after consideration there maybe some question as to what is classed as the original wall of the property and as such they are going to raise again in the planning team to see what the position is.

So all in all no real concrete news as such, but soundings that there could potentially be some good news. Either way I still have it written into the project plan that we will have 12 weeks worth of planning to go through, if we do not then this is a bonus and will mean that we can start the process earlier, although as I have said before I have quite a substantial amount of work to do before we can actually start.

Related posts:

1. Planning Department Response We have finally had a response to our Pre Planning Enquiry, which says that in the opinion of the planning officer they can see no...
2. Planning application submitted We have finally managed to get our planning application submitted following the delays of the planning enquiry. Hopefully we will get a quick response. I...
3. Planning Permission update We now have a yellow poster on the lamp post outside out house. This states that any objections must be raised by the 7th September....
4. Planning Enquiry Frustrations As you will know we are planning some work on our kitchen, this involves an extension to the property and therefore we have got into...
5. Kitchen Extension Project Goes ahead We had our builder round last night to discuss a few things regarding our kitchen extension/orangery project. We needed to clarify some things and change...

See Property Hawk blog

It was intended that all Landlords would all be registered in an amazing step of centralisation and central control. The legislation would have killed off many small Landlords like myself due to the amount of bureaucratic paper work and rules that would have to be followed.

There is already adequate legislation to cover the rights of both tenants and landlords, this Landlord license was simply a method of raising extra hidden taxes and centralising yet another industry.

I for one am very happy that government will not be imposing unnecessary bureaucracy on my business.

Related posts:

1. British Gas Landlord Cover – Update I mentioned in a post on the 22nd January 2009 that I had taken the decision to cover my tenants with the Land Lord Cover...

Although we have long term plans for the kitchen we have put those on hold for the moment due to money grabbing builders who seem to think we are made of money and want a gold lined extension building! We were going to replace the boiler when we did the kitchen but with things as they are we have had to re-think. I will post more about what our plans are regarding the kitchen in the near future.

Currently the boiler is on the kitchen wall, and as we are struggling for space in the kitchen it makes sense to try and fine another location for it. The downstairs toilet seems to be the obvious solution.

The downstairs toilet is very dated and showing its age, however, for not much cost I will be able to replace it and update it, however, in order to get the boiler in as well I will be blocking up the window, which we never use anyway keeping the blind down all the time. This being so it will be a larger job than it should be, something that I will have to do over several weekends. I intend to get the window bricked up next weekend, this will mean having the window out, maybe even the toilet and sink out to give me access.

I will also be taking down the ceiling, firstly because it is artexed and I hate artex and also because I am hoping that I can grab an inch or so to allow extra room for the boiler.

The first problem I have is finding a compact cloakroom suite, maybe even corner basin and corner toilet.

Related posts:

1. Boiler and downstairs cloakroom We have a fully working boiler! After 6 months of struggling with our old boiler we now have a brand new Valiant boiler fitted. The...
2. Kitchen Plans – Large building project Currently our kitchen at Hillcrest is almost unworkable. It is fairly narrow, lacks storage space and lacks any flow and any usable work surface space....
3. A first look at the kitchen plans I thought that I would give you all a sneak preview of the plans I have been doing for the re-development of our kitchen. As...
4. Kitchen Building Project – Frustrating delays As you may already know we have been planning a re-development of our kitchen and dining room. The plans for which have developed greatly over...
5. Planning application submitted We have finally managed to get our planning application submitted following the delays of the planning enquiry. Hopefully we will get a quick response. I...

The monthly payments cover a yearly service and safety certificate for the property, something that is a legal requirements for land lords to have. The first years cover is now over and as such the second services are also now due. It is down to the tenant to book an appointment for the service and the safety certificate update. This has proven to be a failing, not really with the cover it’s self but with  how it actually works in reality. If the tenant does not organise a time then the do not have the safety certificate for which the land lord is legally responsible. As such I believe that it should be the land lords responsibility to tell the tenant when the booking is and if the tenant can not be at the property for that allotted time then the land lord should have access to the property for the service and gas safety certificate to be done.

I have however been very pleased with the service, I have only had reason to call them out for two separate incidents, firstly a boiler which would not stay on and secondly a burst radiator. These where both dealt with swiftly and all under the cover at no extra expense to myself including a new radiator.

All in all I would recommend the service both to private home owners and Land Lords, however if you are a land lord make sure that you manage the process and ensure that you do not take your responsibility for granted.

If you are interested in more information on the British Gas Cover click here

Related posts:

1. Landlord licence dropped Great news, the coalition government has decided to drop plans for one of Labours most ill thought out and frankly idiotic pieces of legislation the...
2. New Boiler and Plans for Downstairs Toilet We have been having problems with out boiler for some time now, the problems have come to a head with us only have a partly...
3. Planning Application Update Regular readers will know that we are planning an extension to our kitchen, there is some debate as to if we will need planning permission...
4. MySQL Update turns on Binary Logging I recently ran an apt-get update on my Debian Etch server as I wanted to install pSpell for php. I found that the apt repros...

It covers me for Gas, Gas Safety Cert, Plumbing, Drainage, Electrics and electrical safety. Which means that I am left dealing with general maintenance which suits me.

There is a monthly cost to the cover £29, however this is tax deductible and as things stand with how precious time is for us at the moment, this is  an investment to get time back more than anything else.

I will blog in the future about how it goes.

As a landlord I have been researching many aspects of property rentals, from legal requirements, to insurance, mortgages and agents who run fully managed services. I have noted that there are rather few sites with provide all these resources in one place that are also aimed at people like me who dabbles in this rather than someone who has 100′s of properties.

I am therefore wondereing if there is an opportunity to create such a resource.

No related posts.