Garage conversion plans in Barnet

Article 4 directions and Barnet's designations

Barnet has 15 Article 4 directions covering 48 mapped areas, and 16 conservation areas. In any of them, rights to alter a front elevation can be removed, so a conversion that would otherwise need no permission may need an application.

Historic England lists 651 entries in the borough, 8 registered parks and gardens touch it, and green belt covers 28 per cent of its area. We check all of these against your address before the survey. The result decides whether the route is no application, a certificate or a householder application.

Trees add a further check. The council has published 718 tree preservation orders, and a protected tree beside a drive can affect a new drain run or a widened crossover, so we mark any near the garage.

What the decision figures say

Barnet decided 1,361 householder applications in its latest published year and granted 80.2 per cent, with 95.1 per cent decided in time. Those are every kind of household project, so they set expectations on timing, not on the result for one garage.

Over the last five years the Planning Inspectorate decided 413 householder appeals from Barnet and allowed 50.6 per cent. An appeal is a fallback, not a plan, and it is simpler to deal with parking and the front elevation in the first submission.

Planning or not: the Barnet route for a garage

If the garage has no restricting condition, the outside stays as it is, and no Article 4 direction touches the front, the work can go ahead without a planning application. You can still get a Lawful Development Certificate in Barnet so a buyer or lender sees proof. Barnet received 785 certificate applications in its latest statistics year.

If a condition or an Article 4 direction removes the right, or the outside changes beyond what permitted development allows, a householder application is the route, with a council fee of £548. Our planning drawings in Barnet set carries it. Where an extension is built under permitted development instead, the national condition is: Exterior materials must be of similar appearance to the existing house (conservatories excepted).

Barnet also has an Article 4 direction on shared houses. If the new room will be let separately, say so at the start, because the HMO conversion drawings in Barnet route is different.

Building Regulations drawings for the converted room

Technical approval is needed in every case. The energy test is: New elements in existing dwellings, limiting U-values W/(m²·K): roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, windows 1.4 (or WER Band B), doors 1.4. In a garage, that means a new insulated floor, a lined wall and an upgraded opening, which the section drawing shows layer by layer.

Ventilation and fire detection are drawn too. The ventilation rule is: Intermittent extract: kitchen 30 l/s with cooker hood (60 l/s otherwise), utility 30 l/s, bathroom 15 l/s, WC 6 l/s. Our building regulations drawings in Barnet put these on one technical set.

What you receive, and nearby boroughs

Send us the decision notice for the house if you have it, and a photograph of the drive. We survey the garage and drive, then show the options in plan before the design is fixed. We also ask early whether the garage belongs to you outright or sits in a block, since a freeholder may need to consent.

A Barnet garage set shows existing and proposed floor plans, front and rear elevations, a section through the floor and wall, and a block plan. It is £695 with VAT included, fixed up front, and normally ready about a week after the survey. A second chartered technologist checks each sheet, and if the council asks for changes we redraw at no charge until approval.

For the whole borough, see architectural drawings in Barnet. Neighbouring rules are on the pages for Brent, Camden and Enfield, and the general guide is garage conversion plans.