# Additional Costs for Small Extension with New Building Regs



## DubMom (28 Oct 2014)

Hi,

Have checked previous posts and haven't seen an answer to my query.

We're currently planning an extension to the rear of our home.  Unfortunately before we bought the house the garage was converted and a bedroom was built over the garage.  I believe that will come off our 40 sq meter planning permission exception.

We now have a choice of building a small extension of approx 150 sq foot without planning permission.

Alternatively we could build a bigger extension of approx 250 sq foot that would require planning permission and compliance with the new regulations.

Leaving aside the additional building costs we're wondering what would be the approximate costs of going down the planning permission route and getting all the required certification?  We're wondering is it worth the hassle and cost - a ballpark figure would be really helpful.

Apart from cost is there anything else we need to consider?

Many thanks.


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## Leo (28 Oct 2014)

The existing development will affect what can be done now without the need for planning permission.

You should note however that the build will need to comply with the current building regulations regardless of whether it's planning exempt or not.


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## flowerman (28 Oct 2014)

DubMom said:


> Hi,
> 
> Have checked previous posts and haven't seen an answer to my query.
> 
> ...


 
What is the exact floor size in square meters of the converted garage and bedroom above it??

I would have thought that your solicitor would have asked whether the converted garage and bedroom above is legit and (if needed) had the required planning permission prior to you buying the house.

Thats what you pay a solicitor alot of money for when purchasing a house.Its up to him/her to find out these things so that you dont buy a house and then have problems over "added on parts" that dont have proper certs.


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## DubMom (29 Oct 2014)

Thanks for the replies.

The extension work carried out before we bought the house was completed circa 1970.  The garage conversion and bedroom above total approx 300 sq feet.  No planning permission was sought at the time (though it was required).  Our solicitor brought this to our attention when we were buying.  He indicated that while it wasn’t ideal that he had come across the situation frequently – people were less focused on planning permission over 30 years ago.  The vendors solicitor provided an architect’s letter stating that the extension work carried out appeared to be structurally sound.  This was confirmed by our survey.  Our solicitor advised that while the letter wouldn’t meet current certification requirements there wasn’t much else we could do and he didn’t have any concerns with us going ahead with the house purchase.

Should our solicitor have advised differently?  Is there something else we should do regarding the existing extension work?

We were considering doing nothing more than including the square footage of the existing extension in the calculations for the new extension to the back of our house.  We thought that once the overall total square footage for  all work didn’t exceed 40 sq meters that we didn’t require planning permission.  Is this correct?

All advice much appreciated.


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## kceire (4 Nov 2014)

You may need planning for the 25 square meter extension, but you will only have to lodge a small form of commencement notice. No need for the additional costs of an assigned Certifier.


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