What's Involved in Making a Planning Application?
So you want to extend or make changes to your home and you know that the work will require an application for Planning Permission – what happens next?
Whether you are making changes to your home under the Exempt Development guidelines (without the need for a formal application) or applying for Planning Permission, the purpose of the planning system is to protect your local built environment and its residential amenity (the ability to enjoy living there), which is why there are restrictions and guidelines in the first place. The main issues are described in your local Development Plan, which is usually available to view on-line and also at your local planning office.
Remember that your proposals not only affect yourself and your home but will also have an impact on those around you, so think about how you would react to a neighbour making the same changes to his or her house. The more respectful and sympathetic you are to your neighbours homes when making your plans, then the better chance you have of getting planning permission and avoiding a long drawn out planning process to say nothing of a difficult and fraught building process!
I would always recommend working with an Architect to develop the design proposals for your home and prepare the Planning Application, as they will bring expert knowledge and experience to your project. Whether the Architect needs to be involved for the whole project or only part of it will depend on what you want to achieve:
- Do you have very limited space?
- Is there an existing extension to be taken account of?
- Do you want the new space to integrate seemlessly with the existing house?
- Do you want to maximise natural light?
If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions then using an Architect is likely to bring greater value to your project.
The Architect will help you to develop a Brief – this a detailed description of the changes you’d like to make and what you hope to achieve from the proposed changes to your home, taking account of your needs, timescale and budget. He / she will carry out a detailed survey of the property – plans, elevations and sections – and use this information to prepare drawings of the house as existing which will then form the basis for the new proposals. He / she will also advise you of the various regulations that may apply to your project – the most common ones are Planning, Building Regulations and Health & Safety.
Sketch drawings are prepared for discussion and, when you are happy with the proposals, these are developed into the architectural planning drawings.
So what’s actually required for a Planning Application?
Although complex projects may require more information in order to explain the proposals more clearly and the planner can also request more information, as part of the process, these are the basics:
- Planning Application form;
- Site Notice (to be erected at front of property for first 5 weeks of application period and a copy included with the application);
- Newspaper Notice – original & a copy of advert;
- OS Maps – these have to be originals and can be purchased from Ordnance Survey outlets in the form of Planning Packs, which cost around €55.00
- 6no. copies of the architectural drawings showing the existing house and the proposed changes – site layout, floor and roof plans, elevations and sections, proposed drainage routes ( if appropriate) along with a description of the materials to be used or design specification.
The site notice and newspaper notice can be erected / published up to 2 weeks prior to submitting your application. Your local planning office will have a list of newspapers that are acceptable for your area – local weekly papers are often less expensive but will require your notice to be submitted approx. a week in advance whereas national newspapers can usually print within a day or two of receiving your notice. The site notice must be visible from the public footpath at the front of your house – it’s a good idea to have it mounted just beyond the reach of anyone passing, to prevent vandalism.
If you’d like to find out about the Planning Application process itself – the timescales involved and what they could mean to your project – take a look at How Long Does Planning Permission Take?
Did you find this article useful? Please leave a comment to let us know your thoughts on the subject and also any other home improvement issues you’d like to know more about.
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