Garage conversion plans in Bexley

A borough of houses, and what that means for permissions

75.3 per cent of Bexley households live in a house or bungalow and 68.6 per cent own their home. That means most garage conversions here are on houses where the householder rights exist, and the question is usually a condition or a designation, not the type of building.

Bexley has 23 conservation areas and 114 list entries, and 17 per cent of the borough is green belt. We check each against your address before the survey. Outside them, a conversion that leaves the outside unaltered needs no planning application. The rule is that Works affecting only the interior, or not materially affecting external appearance, are not development.

How quickly Bexley decides, and the certificate route

In its latest year Bexley decided 877 householder applications, granted 94.6 per cent and decided 99.4 per cent in time. For an owner that means a householder application, where one is needed, has usually been decided inside the statutory period, though no single case is certain.

The council received 323 lawful development certificate applications in the latest national statistics year. A Lawful Development Certificate in Bexley is the sensible record where no permission is needed, because a purchaser's solicitor may ask for evidence. The same figures show prior approval for larger extensions is not a formality here, with 7 granted and 8 refused. A garage conversion does not use that route.

When the front changes and an application follows

If a condition on the estate removes the freedom, or the garage door is replaced with a design that departs from the house, a householder application is the route. The council fee is £548, and our planning drawings in Bexley carry the submission.

On the front, the national materials condition applies: Exterior materials must be of similar appearance to the existing house (conservatories excepted). On a typical Bexley semi that means matching the stock brick and the bond, and setting the new window to line up with the one above.

Building Regulations drawings for the room

Building control approval is required in every case. The U-value limits for new elements are: 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. We show the new floor, the lined wall and the replacement opening as layers on the section.

If the room is to be a bedroom, the escape rule applies: Escape window: unobstructed openable area at least 0.33 m², at least 450 mm high and 450 mm wide, bottom of opening no more than 1100 mm above floor. The sill height on the street elevation has to meet it, so the window is designed once for both purposes. Our building regulations drawings in Bexley bring the set together.

What you receive and nearby boroughs

Send the address, a photograph of the drive and the decision notice if you hold it. We survey the garage, the drive and the floor level against the house, then show the options in plan. You choose in writing and the design is frozen.

A Bexley set is £695 with VAT included, fixed before you commit, and is normally ready about a week after the survey. A second chartered technologist checks every sheet. If the council asks for changes we redraw at no charge until approval.

For the whole borough see architectural drawings in Bexley. Next door, compare Bromley, Barking and Dagenham and Croydon, or read the overview of garage conversion plans.