Hi
my father purchased a property in Manchester in the late 80s since then he demolished the building and it is now just a piece of land. Me and my partner are now looking to do something on the plot of land. I need advice and help on the following
can I get an architect to draw up the plans as to how the building was in its original form or can I just build like for like without permission and plans?
also does anyone know a cheap freelance architect in Manchester who can help me
thanks in advance
my father purchased a property in Manchester in the late 80s since then he demolished the building and it is now just a piece of land. Me and my partner are now looking to do something on the plot of land. I need advice and help on the following
can I get an architect to draw up the plans as to how the building was in its original form or can I just build like for like without permission and plans?
also does anyone know a cheap freelance architect in Manchester who can help me
thanks in advance
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sorted byAn initial consultation will be relatively cheap if not free and you can have the sort of conversation with them that would be impossible to have on here. Good luck. (edited)
One thing to remember is that any dubious aspects of the previous house won't be grandfathered in. You won't get away with blocking light, not having enough visibility out of the driveway, not having enough insulation and hundreds of other things that an old property may have got away with due to pre-dating rules.
My architect did plans and submission to council for planning permission, when you find one, look at the services they provide. A cheap one may not necessarily be the best.
Step 1, hire a good architect. An architect who is local and understands the regulations for the local borough is very helpful. Ensure the architect is approachable and isn't just going to take your instructions, you need him/her to advise you. Getting the initial plans (drawings) could cost between £800 - £1500 + planning fee and additional survey fees, where required. The second set of drawings for building regs are required if you get your planning approved - there is an additional cost for these drawings. In addition to an architect you will require the services of a structural engineer.
As others have said, don't scrimp on the plans for it!
No you cannot just rebuild without permission.
Usually it's the typical rubbish of "I know a way that you can do it for free / illegally".
As a planning consultant with over 25 years experience I can tell you that the amount of specialist reports that are required for a planning application just to be validated/registered (forget approved) increases all the time - depending upon the particular site circumstances you might also need a planning consultant, transport consultant, flood risk consultant, sustainability consultant and so forth. People often think that all that needs to be submitted is afew plans and a short covering letter, 40 years ago that was the case, but not now.
As others have advised it's good, but not essential, to use an architect with local knowledge/experience. Having a 'good' relationship with the local authority should mean, as slimy31 says, a knowledge of what the authority is likely to approve, but nothing more - I sometimes come across architects and other professionals who only work in a small geographical area and therefore are wary of upsetting the local authority officers or councillors by going for a 'braver' development, getting a refusal and/or going to appeal against a refusal - whereas to me that's all part and parcel of what I do to achieve the best outcome for my client.
Also wise to make sure the architect is actually an 'architect' (i.e. a member of the RIBA) and not someone who isn't actually an architect (indeed unless someone is an RIBA member they are not allowed to call themselves an 'architect').
Finally, with some exceptions, in these days of ever poorer public services the opportunity for proactive dialogue with a Council Officer after submitting an application is becoming less and less, no matter how hard your architect or planning consultant tries to engage. Too often I'll be trying to contact an Officer by email or phone for weeks without success and then 2 days before the decision they'll suddenly send a one line email saying that a minor revision is required but the authority doesn't accept amendments and you'll need to withdraw the application and resubmit. I have one project at the moment with Manchester City Council and despite countless emails and so forth to the Council I've not heard from him since late March, it infuriates me that it takes only a matter of minutes to send an email but too many Officers do the bare minimum, leading to all public sector employees being unfairly tarred with the same brush.
And finally, I'm not touting for work - I've already got enough projects to deal with !.
Maybe it depends where you live?
I recently wanted to put up a new building on my side lawn. I asked an architect friend where to begin and they said - just draw it on a piece of paper and submit it and see what they say. To my surprise, it was approved. I mean, I did use a biro and not a crayon, but it was literally a sketch on a side of A4.
I was going to get in touch with the local authorities and try and ask them and try and get a person I can directly speak to to advise me. If you think it’s hard for me to get hold of them I might find my journey problematic. I will do some research and if you don’t mind come back to here for some advice
If the land is within the boundaries of Manchester City Council then the authority still doesn't publicise the availability of such a service on its website, but when I contacted them about 2 years ago they did provide as commercial client with free written advice (which to be honest was pretty basic and told us little more than the advice I'd already provided to the client), although it took many weeks for that advice to be provided. It may be, like some authorities, that the authority no longer provides a pre-app advice service due to a lack of resources, it is best to contact the authority directly to check.
Someone recently came to me having instructed such a person, paid lots of money to that individual, they submitted a planning application (probably just filled out the form - laughably the instructing client was never actually provided with what this individual had submitted to the Council) and then disappeared into thin air when the Council wouldn't validate the application because of the lack of information submitted, leaving that (rather foolish) client substantially out of pocket.