Building An Extension On Your House? Here’s What You Need To Know
The thing about houses is that they only have enough room for a particular number of occupants. When you have a growing family, the simple fact is you need more space in your home. Many people choose to sell their houses and move into bigger, more expensive ones.
But what happens if you’ve spent a large part of your life living at your house? And you’ve got lots of good people living in your area? You will be somewhat reluctant to move somewhere else. And for a perfectly good reason too.
One option that some people consider is to extend their properties. In layman’s terms, the process involves extending one or more stories across an unused bit of land on your land.
I should warn you though: extending a house isn’t cheap. But the flip side is you’ll add a hell of a lot of value to your house, should you decide to sell up in the future!
It doesn’t matter if you want to go for the DIY approach or hire some builders to do the work for you. What does matter is that you know what the whole process involves. And that’s what the aim of this blog post is for – telling you what you need to know!
Design
The first stage of your project should be to draw up plans for the design of your home’s extension. Details of this phase should include the layout of the rooms, and the style of the doors and windows you want to use.
I recommend hiring an architect to help you with this stage. That way, you can be sure that all of the measurements are correct. And that you will end up exactly what you want once the extension gets built.
Planning
Next, you’ll need to cut through some red tape. You first need to check that you’re allowed to extend your home. One thing you must also do is confirm the land you want to use is owned by you. Click here to perform a title search.
Assuming everything is fine so far, the next step is to have a chat with your local council. They will inform you whether you need to apply for “planning permission.” In most places, a standard one or two-storey extension doesn’t need planning permission. But if you’re planning something more bespoke, you may need to apply for it.
For those that need to apply for permission, there are some things you can do to increase the likelihood of getting accepted. Examples include designing your extension so that the style is sympathetic to the other homes in your street. And ensuring that your extension isn’t going to get used for commercial purposes.
So, if you were planning to repair trucks for a living from your home, you might want to reconsider doing so!
Building
The thing about houses is that they only have enough room for a particular number of occupants. When you have a growing family, the simple fact is yo
Once you’ve got the green light, the final phase is to hire a competent builder to complete the work. Be sure to get recommendations from people you know. Sometimes your local council can give you a list of preferred builders and contractors that they use.
By following this guide, you’ll enjoy a hassle-free design and building process!