The importance of planning

Right from the start (before we bought the property) we set out to work with the local planning office, to understand their priorities and test the feasibility of our ideas. Anyone can approach the planning office for general and pre-planning advice. It was worth asking some very basic 'pre-planning' questions and the planning officer was very helpful (with the housing market slump I doubt they had much else to do at the time). We did this by email, because we were out of the country some of the time and because it helped us to have some of the key points in writing before making a formal planning application.

We had a few concerns. First, we weren't sure the cottage would be considered as a habited dwelling. We had to complete the sale of the cottage 'as is' and without any conditions on planning permission, so it was essential to know if there were any limitations to using it as a house (and being able to sell it on again as a dwelling if we ever ran into difficulty).

The Land Registry Folio showed the building. We knew the previous owner had fixed walls, put on a new roof, added a bathroom and septic tanks but we couldn't be sure if it was a house or a barn before that. We did some research and were able to document that it had been continually occupied for more than a century (another interesting chapter in the story). With this information we were able to verify from the planning officer that: 'As it is an existing residential unit the continued use as a residence is acceptable'. 

Second, we weren't sure if we could keep the existing sewerage arrangements on the site. That's a saga that deserves its own chapter but, to cut a long story short, the owner had installed fairly modern septic tanks but without planning permission. The installation wasn't up to current regulations and, more importantly, the plot was too small to make it so. There was no way the planning officer was going to give us any assurance about retaining the existing but she was able to reassure us that: 'In general, where a property is in place and an upgrade to same has been carried out we wouldn’t refuse as the applicant has improved the situation'. We confirmed that 'other sites in that general area have passed the EPA test' and that proposals to upgrade would be 'encouraged and dealt with favourably' even if full compliance couldn't be achieved.

Finally, we weren't sure if we'd have any chance of adding the kitchen extension that we wanted. Without applying for planning permission, we prepared some sketches of what we had in mind and gained some assurance that: 'The proposed extension works appear to be acceptable in design and the Planning Authority encourages the renovation and extension of existing properties to ensure the continued use of them, it is a sustainable approach and the proposed development you have attached would integrate into the area well'.

Although we didn't have definitive answers, talking to the planning office in advance took away a lot of uncertainty and gave us a lot more confidence about going ahead with the sale.