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[Andy B]

....
Market it super slow though, ....
All appears quite slow at the moment. 

Doesn't seem to be the case on my estate .... there's a 'sold in 7 days' on a house around the corner

[Viral_Jim]

Doesn't seem to be the case on my estate .... there's a 'sold in 7 days' on a house around the corner

As with most UK property market trends (good and bad) I suspect it's starting in the  SE and will move up/out from there.

For example a girl in my team has been trying to sell her Essex flat for close to 6m, on the flip side we sold ours on 3 weeks. Isolated examples, but there are some indicators that it's part of a broader trend.

[Viral_Jim]

By the way, you don't have to use the Council's building inspectors, you can use an independent one, as I do.

This. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Or build it to the 4m limit and extend that in a couple months time? 

Wont work sadly, the permitted development has a consideration for previous extensions 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Our house is detached, therefore I can extend 4m back from the property within permitted development.

What happens if it's just outside that? say 4.1 metres? As to extend and match the garage wall line, which is what I want to do, it is fractionally longer than 4m.

Would that need planning permission?

Builder said he's only had one inspector measure and that was due to neighbour of the extension complaining.

Finally had a decent builder around and quote is within budget, so it's plan B for us if we cannot move.

Just get planning permission, its about £200, easy to do and you will need to get plans drawn anyway for the builder.

[jonathanh]

Planning permission and extended permitted development are technically two different things. What works best for you  will depend on local planning policy and the history of development if any with the existing house.

For example I could not get planning permission for any extension but I could used extended permitted development to add 1500 square feet.  It is all about playing by the rules to achieve what you want

Building control is totally separate that is about how something is built. Not its size or location

[tunnie]

Thanks all for the advice 

Things like guttering I'd not taken into account, so good to know and yes looking full planning permission route now. Lots of my neighbours have done very similar extensions, so don't see issues and have excellent relationships with those around me.

Our house is detached, therefore I can extend 4m back from the property within permitted development.

What happens if it's just outside that? say 4.1 metres? As to extend and match the garage wall line, which is what I want to do, it is fractionally longer than 4m.

Would that need planning permission?

Builder said he's only had one inspector measure and that was due to neighbour of the extension complaining.

Finally had a decent builder around and quote is within budget, so it's plan B for us if we cannot move.

Just get planning permission, its about £200, easy to do and you will need to get plans drawn anyway for the builder.

I might ask the builder for plans, did you do your own or use another company?

[aaronjb]

When people say plans, they mean something an architect draws - not something a builder draws on the pack of an envelope Plans are important - they let you show building control how it was meant to be built (and that it was designed to meet regs) and they let you and the builder have an agreed plan to build against so you both know what you are getting!

Try this guy - he drew plans for a garage (that I couldn't afford to have built, sadly) and was very reasonable - he can deal with planning control & building control for you, too: https://www.davidtaylordesignservice.co.uk/

(FWIW it was £800 in 2011 to have plans drawn including the cost of submitting to building control, local authority and planning application, and that included £80 for structural engineers calcs for beam loading - I paid around half that, because we never submitted for building control/LA etc, in the end)

[tunnie]

You mean my plans here, would not be good enough? 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/tunnie_84/Extension.png

Understood, thanks for the recommendation, that's worth a huge amount. The builder top of our list did some work for some friends of ours, they were very happy with work done and slogged away back in the cold snap we had. So huge peace of mind when they come recommended. 

£800 + inflation as it includes planning etc is reasonable to me and as you say gives builders how it's meant to look.

[aaronjb]

Yep, I also found it was easier to get builders to quote if there was a plan on a piece of paper - but it sounds like you've already got that bit covered

David was a nice guy, easy to deal with and very fair - obviously some of the costs are out of his control as they are set by the council (or whoever you use for building inspection), but his quote was all itemised etc and I figured £400ish for his time to draw up plans was money well spent, and saves me seven years of architect school

[tunnie]

Yep, I also found it was easier to get builders to quote if there was a plan on a piece of paper - but it sounds like you've already got that bit covered

David was a nice guy, easy to deal with and very fair - obviously some of the costs are out of his control as they are set by the council (or whoever you use for building inspection), but his quote was all itemised etc and I figured £400ish for his time to draw up plans was money well spent, and saves me seven years of architect school

All things considered, good value. Considering I pay some of my developers £550 each day!

[scimmy_man]

By the way, you don't have to use the Council's building inspectors, you can use an independent one, as I do.

they never come to visit I find,
builders get away with allsorts of shortcuts.

[Rods2]

Local council building inspectors know all the local builders and are used to dealing with them. This also means they know the ones that they need to keep an eye on and those they know who will do a good correct job, so requiring minimal monitoring and inspection.

[Shackeng]

By the way, you don't have to use the Council's building inspectors, you can use an independent one, as I do.

they never come to visit I find,
builders get away with allsorts of shortcuts.

I agree that they can be somewhat casual at timekeeping, but they traditionally cost less, mine last time was £75, and I reckon Tunnie would be on top of the job anyway.

[TheBoy]

Without doubt, losing the garage will affect resale, so if this is a house to want to move from in the foreseeable future, you'll have to remember that additional financial burden.