Adding Extra Features Plan It, Build It


Adding Extra Features

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Across the country, behind closed doors, we British are building.

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We're building up, down and out to improve our homes.

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In my mind I feel like it's going to be amazing.

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But before we build, we need permission.

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Permission from the planners. A bunch of people dedicated to

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protecting our public spaces and neighbourhoods.

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I think in its present state it possibly isn't quite acceptable.

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So, if you've ever wanted a bigger kitchen,

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an extra bedroom or an en suite bathroom, stand by.

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It's time to...

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We British are extremely proud of our homes - they define us,

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they reveal our tastes, they represent our achievements.

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In fact, over our lifetimes we spend, on average, 60 grand

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doing up our properties.

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It's very rare that we buy a new home and feel everything is perfect.

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There are always alterations we want to make to mould our properties,

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and planners see all sorts of applications for changes big

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and small. But it's often the personal added extras

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that create the biggest problems.

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Extensions or additions to the front of properties are very often

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not allowed because of the impact on the street.

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It's not just, "Oh, we'll just stick this box on the front of this house."

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Sometimes what they want isn't acceptable.

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So today it's all about the added extras. What happens

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when you want to do something special

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that makes your property stand out from the crowd?

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The planners will meet...

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a family who want a teenage den and a Juliet balcony.

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If we're turned down for the planning consent,

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it certainly won't end up what we want it to be.

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This is what you can see from the street,

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so there is a slight concern about being able to see that.

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And a man who's decided he wants a large conservatory in his garden.

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We thought we'd take it to the next level and really put our stamp on it.

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We'll have to see how the application goes and see

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if this neighbour has any comments to make.

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Will our homeowners get planning permission

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to add the quirky extras they want?

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And how much will their bespoke changes add to the value

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of their properties?

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Across the land, we love interesting homes.

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We've produced some of the world's greatest architects,

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and we've had some of the most innovative new-build ideas.

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Nowadays, we watch TV programmes about people who design

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houses from scratch, and even if we can't go that far

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we still want to stamp our personalities on our properties.

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Modern society has changed.

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With normal property, say a normal Victorian property,

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we don't want everything to look the same as the property used to.

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You know, times are changing.

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This is St Helen's,

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a well-established neighbourhood situated at the top of Hastings.

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Many of the houses here were built just after the Second World War,

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but there are older Victorian properties,

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and there's a vast range of architectural styles.

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St Helen's is one of the most affluent areas of the town

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with a large number of privately owned houses.

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Prices fluctuate from street to street,

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but premium properties on St Helen's Down sell for £260,000.

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That's 90 grand more than the area average.

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Hastings Council acknowledge that with such a range of styles,

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maintaining a coherent character here is difficult.

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But that doesn't mean anything goes. The man who keeps development

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under control is planning officer Calum Rowley.

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With this application they want to put a front extension,

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a two-storey extension here.

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So they've got an existing porch at the front of the property

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and they're going to demolish that

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and build a new front extension.

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The main concerns are always about overlooking,

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especially from these two windows at the top here.

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When a front two-storey extension sort of application comes in

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the immediate impact

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is on their neighbouring amenities and overlooking so the effect

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on their privacy which we try and avoid at all costs, really.

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I saw the property on the internet, asked my wife to come

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and have a look.

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She came and said,

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"Well, if you want to put in an offer..." thinking all the time that

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we were never going to end up owning the property and the rest is...

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Here we are! It's a very well-established area.

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I mean, this house has been here since 1931.

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And there's a lot of people who have lived in the road,

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have done so most of their life.

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Richard Brett and his family recently bought this three-bed

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detached property in St Helen's, after moving from nearby Ore.

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They love the area and the house, but there are a few changes

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they want to make to tailor the house to their needs.

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We paid 249 for the house.

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With regard to how much the work will cost,

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it's a little bit difficult to put a figure on it.

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We've got a budget of about 20 to 25,000.

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Optimistic that we'll add somewhere in the region of

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maybe 40 to 50,000 value to the property.

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The Bretts plan to totally renovate their property,

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adding a two-storey extension,

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and an additional feature - a Juliet balcony to the front of the house.

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So, we'll bring this window will come forward to approximately

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this fence and it'll go across to the other side of the porch.

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Richard also wants to build a wooden cabin in the front garden to

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give his teenage son and daughter a space to go with their friends.

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These self-contained, self-assemble units are increasingly popular,

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but putting one in this street may look out of place.

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The garden building is going just to the other side of the bush

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there and will stand between the garage and the bush.

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Be a nice big space for them to enjoy with their friends

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and get up to whatever teenagers get up to in garden buildings.

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Upstairs we'll have a fourth bedroom over the porch

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and our bedroom, the master bedroom, will be extended out

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with a nice set of double doors on the front with a Juliet balcony

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so that we can enjoy the south-facing views in the summer

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when the sun comes up nice and early in the morning. You can open

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the windows wide, bit of fresh air, nothing better!

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Juliet balconies have become very fashionable.

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They're named after Shakespeare's tragic heroine Juliet

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who is courted by Romeo while she's on her balcony.

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The funny thing is the play only actually mentions a window,

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but over the years theatre directors have enjoyed some artistic license.

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Juliet balconies don't protrude out of the building, they usually

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open as double doors with a glass or metal barrier placed in front.

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With a Juliet balcony we normally only... They're normally

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on the rear elevation so on this there might be an extra degree of

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overlooking so I'm going to discuss the amendment on site with the

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applicant and take the photos that are necessary and then I can decide

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whether this sort of amendment would be acceptable or not.

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If we're turned down for the planning consent

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then we'd be a bit disappointed.

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It wouldn't ruin the house but it certainly won't end up

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what we want it to be.

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The Bretts' desire for a Juliet balcony

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and a self-contained kids unit may be design features too far.

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It'll all depend on what Calum thinks

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when he makes his crucial site inspection.

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When you buy a house in an extremely desirable area,

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you don't want to move again in a hurry.

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But desirable areas are often architecturally special,

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and planners want to keep them that way.

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South London's Southwark Council are responsible for controlling

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development in one such area.

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This is a particularly attractive place,

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has been for years ever since it grew up around the Dulwich Estate.

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Welcome to one of the most gentrified

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postcodes in the capital- Dulwich Village.

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As the name suggests, this idyllic pocket of Southwark has

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maintained its village-y feel, with all development closely managed.

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The village is dominated by its illustrious boys school,

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Dulwich College, which dates back to 1619.

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The area's mainly 18th and 19th-century houses

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have staggering prices attached.

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A typical semi-detached property will cost

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an average of £1.3 million, with some properties

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in the most coveted streets fetching well over 2 million.

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With these houses, they're much bigger than

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the houses in East Dulwich so they've probably, in many cases,

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got a lot more scope to enlarge them and extend them.

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Dulwich itself is a really nice pocket,

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very close to central London.

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The schools are fantastic.

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You are 14 minutes to Victoria.

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It's where we wanted to be.

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Nitin Nagpaul has worked hard to find a family home

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in this convenient and up-market location.

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He bought this large detached property in College Road

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for 1.2 million.

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Fully renovated houses on this street can fetch

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anywhere between two and four million, and because they don't

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come on the market very often, they're snapped up quickly.

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Nitin's mission is to turn the property into a family home.

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He's got planning permission for the first phase of the development,

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but now he wants an additional feature,

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a huge conservatory-style family room on the rear of the building.

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It's a big overhaul of our house.

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We've got a '70s-built house which wasn't really to our taste

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when we purchased it.

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It really needed a lot of work done to get it to a reasonable level.

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But we thought we'd take it to the next level

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and really put our stamp on it - something we liked.

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So, we were aware there were planning issues.

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We were aware that there were Dulwich Estate issues which is

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something unique to this area and we waded through

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and jumped through the hurdles.

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Planning permission here is managed by both Southwark Council

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and the Dulwich Estate, who own the land.

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This makes every step of the renovation process more complicated.

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Nitin plans to spend 350,000 on a complete overhaul

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of the property, and most of his permission is finally through.

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But he desperately wants to add the large rear extension

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which will bring something truly special to his home.

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We've now applied for a secondary application

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which involves a rear extension

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and we hope to hear good news from that in the next four to six weeks.

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We have been given no indication that there will be objections

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but until you have got that piece of paper you don't really know.

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Erm, shall we go round the back then

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and have a look at what we're proposing for the rear extension?

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Yeah, yeah. Definitely.

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With such an ambitious project, Nitin meets his architects

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and builders for regular updates.

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Today his architect has come specifically to discuss

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the rear extension.

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So we're looking to submit the application to Southwark

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just to make these revisions basically to the design.

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We're not proposing to increase the height of the extension

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beyond what's already approved,

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so all we're looking to do is increase the depth of it.

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OK. That should be good news, one would hope!

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Nitin hopes the extra hoops he's going through are worth the effort.

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He has his heart set on the large, light rear extension,

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which will be a family area.

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But getting this idiosyncratic extra may prove a step too far.

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It's all up to the Southwark planning officer

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who'll make a crucial site inspection.

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In Hastings, Calum has arrived for his all-important site visit.

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It's up to him to decide whether the Bretts' plan for an extension

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with bespoke features is acceptable in smart St Helen's.

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-Hello there.

-Mr Brett, it's Calum from Hastings Planning.

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-Good to meet you.

-Come in.

-Thanks.

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-Go through.

-Thank you.

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The people this side, as you're probably aware, have got

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consent for a very, very similar extension

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on the front of their property.

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Yeah.

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I will just check that and I'll check just upstairs as well

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just to take the photos and everything I need to do

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before writing the report.

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-Yeah, fine.

-Is that all right?

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What Richard doesn't know is that Calum has concerns

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about his Juliet balcony, which was an addition to the original plans.

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Hastings Council are keen to keep things uniform

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in the street - anything which looks out of place

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may result in a refusal.

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Looking from this you're only really going to overlook the driveway,

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which, that's good from a planning point of view

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because what we try and avoid

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is overlooking right into the neighbouring property.

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Viewing it from here, there's no sort of general issue

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about neighbouring property and neighbouring amenity which is good.

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Calum has to consider every aspect of the Brett's plans.

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His biggest concern isn't with their garden building,

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because neighbours already have these -

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he worries about anything which looks irregular in the same street.

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In terms of the balcony, this is what you can see

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from the street so there is a slight concern about being able to see

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that at the moment which I'll have to discuss with senior colleagues.

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Because the extension's coming out 4.1 metres, I'm going

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to take photos just to show either side of the boundary treatments

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just to ensure the overlooking problem which may or may not

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be here is just OK so I can analyse that back at the office, as well.

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Calum still isn't convinced about the balcony.

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He doesn't want it to be an oddity in such a smart street.

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This doesn't bode well for the Brett's application.

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There's only one sort of real concern and that's the balcony,

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because you can see it from the street, the elevation's quite clear.

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So that would purely be with a view to what the property

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-looks like from the road?

-Yeah.

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Like I say, as part of our sort of local planning policy we do try

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and protect the street scene of the area so as people are driving

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past there's sort of continuity with the street...

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In a road where there are no two houses the same!

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Sort of, yeah.

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But there's no balcony either on the front elevation.

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So, like I said to you earlier, balconies are normally on rear

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elevations so they're not seen from the street, so it's just...

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Although there are other houses further up the road

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that have balconies on the front.

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There are, yes, but we do... It's like the old-age question,

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how far do you go up before you say,

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"That's the immediate street scene?"

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What's your initial feeling on the balcony?

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Erm...

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You can be honest, it's all right.

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I'm not entirely sure, to be honest.

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I've got to analyse it better, which I can do back at the office

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and without seeing all the neighbouring properties,

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so far so I can't give you a yes or no on that.

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My first and main concern was on the overlooking, but that's nothing now.

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It's just the balcony which is possibly the issue.

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-All right?

-OK. Thanks for your time.

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-Thanks a lot.

-Marvellous.

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The applicant has raised an issue around neighbouring properties

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with the balcony so that is what I'm going to go and check

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just to make sure that what they've proposed is in the area as well.

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I'm surprised there's so much fuss over the balcony situation

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but I suppose they've got a plan they want to stick to.

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I don't really, personally see,

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in a road where every property's individual anyway,

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the issue that we've got of,

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"Oh, well, we want them all to look the same!"

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Because there's only two houses that look the same up this road anyway.

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If they object to the balcony just, in my opinion, quite simply

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because they don't like the idea of it, I might consider an appeal.

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I'll go back to the office,

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check all the plans with senior planners.

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Tell them what I found on site and go from there about

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whether the amendment for the balcony is acceptable or not.

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Back in South London,

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and Nitin is about to go through exactly the same process.

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Southwark Council's Anna Clare is en route

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to his house in Dulwich Village.

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Her visit will have a huge bearing on whether his second application

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is passed and he can build the large glass-panelled family room

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that will complete his vision.

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The reason for having a site visit is essentially to assess

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the rear extension. It's on this side of the property

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so the main thing I'll be looking at is any impact on this

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neighbouring property here in terms of the height and the projections.

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Hi, I'm Anna Clare, the planning officer.

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Anna, nice to meet you. Nitin.

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It's probably best if we go round the back, OK?

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-Thank you.

-No worries.

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The good thing for Nitin is that houses within Dulwich tend to

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be spacious, giving him plenty of room to expand.

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But Anna's main concern will still be

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the impact of the extension on neighbouring properties,

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especially since it will now be bigger than originally planned.

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I think originally it was just three metres, wasn't it?

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-Four metres.

-Was it four metres? OK.

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Now the application's gone to 6.5 or 6.45 or something.

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Oh, yeah. Here, obviously the only real concern

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here is any impact on that neighbour.

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So they have more of a concern than the rear neighbour.

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Yeah, it's quite a shallow garden but any light is lost

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by the mass of the actual building, not really by that extension.

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And there's no real restriction on how big you can make it,

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it just depends on the size of the site really.

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We consult the neighbours by letter and the adjoining land and

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there's a site notice up outside for anyone else who may be interested.

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-Sure.

-I don't actually remember

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if anyone commented on the original application but we'll just wait

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and see if anyone does on this

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and then we can take it from there, really.

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Good. I shall invite them all round to tea.

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Sure! Is it all right if I take a few photos?

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Of course, yes, please. Snap away.

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Even though this is an amended plan,

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it still requires a fresh site visit.

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Planners always need to double-check they haven't missed anything,

0:18:280:18:31

not only for people living nearby today,

0:18:310:18:34

but also for future generations.

0:18:340:18:36

That's all I really need to see today so thank you for your time.

0:18:360:18:39

-No problem, my pleasure.

-If you have any questions, just give me a call.

0:18:390:18:42

-Many thanks indeed. I shall see you out.

-Cheers.

0:18:420:18:44

I suppose, it is quite a large extension - 6.5 metres

0:18:450:18:49

is essentially the same depth as the existing house -

0:18:490:18:54

but really there's no real set guidance

0:18:540:18:57

as to how big your extension can be.

0:18:570:19:00

It really is sort of on a case-by-case basis.

0:19:000:19:03

It really depends on how it would affect the neighbours.

0:19:030:19:06

So basically at the office I'll have a better look

0:19:060:19:08

at where the neighbours' windows are and any impact it will have on them.

0:19:080:19:11

If it was felt to be a bit big we might ask them to reduce it.

0:19:130:19:16

But we'll have to see how the application goes and see

0:19:160:19:19

if this neighbour has any comments to make.

0:19:190:19:21

The site visit went really well

0:19:210:19:23

but the problem is it is just a site visit -

0:19:230:19:25

there are boundaries to... Hurdles to jump over

0:19:250:19:28

so we'll wait and see what the neighbours come up with.

0:19:280:19:31

She gave me an indication of what problems

0:19:310:19:33

we might have from our neighbours.

0:19:330:19:35

The next stage is really

0:19:350:19:36

they have to establish their consultation period.

0:19:360:19:38

They have to go through the processes in terms of making sure

0:19:380:19:41

the neighbours are fully informed,

0:19:410:19:43

make sure the public's informed via notice and hopefully everything

0:19:430:19:46

will be OK but unfortunately we can't predict things at this stage.

0:19:460:19:49

Time will tell.

0:19:490:19:50

Over in Hastings, and Calum has had time to consider

0:19:530:19:55

the impact of the Bretts' Juliet balcony on the street.

0:19:550:19:58

He now makes a recommendation

0:19:590:20:01

which must be authorised by a senior planner.

0:20:010:20:04

What I'm doing today is the report from the site visit

0:20:050:20:08

so I'm putting down my thoughts about my assessment on site

0:20:080:20:14

which will then go to the senior planner and development manager

0:20:140:20:18

to sign off.

0:20:180:20:20

The main concern was really the balcony,

0:20:200:20:22

but it's just a case of making sure what I've written is correct

0:20:220:20:27

so that we can get the decision out to the applicant.

0:20:270:20:29

So I've just done the report now.

0:20:340:20:37

So I've mentioned about the balcony and that there's one already at 11,

0:20:380:20:43

so I've just mentioned that.

0:20:430:20:45

-Excellent. Thank you very much.

-Thanks.

0:20:450:20:48

The report is an explanation of the whole proposal

0:20:480:20:50

so it will explain in there the position of the balcony,

0:20:500:20:53

how that looks in the street,

0:20:530:20:54

whether it's going to have any impact on neighbouring properties,

0:20:540:20:57

those kind of things.

0:20:570:20:58

The planners have now made their decision.

0:21:000:21:02

The Bretts are about to find out

0:21:020:21:04

if they can have the modifications they want in their chosen street.

0:21:040:21:08

We're very excited about putting our own mark on the house,

0:21:080:21:11

making it our own.

0:21:110:21:13

If the consent is given for the cabin,

0:21:130:21:15

then we'll get that ordered within the week

0:21:150:21:17

and hopefully only two to three weeks' delivery,

0:21:170:21:20

we'll have that up within the month.

0:21:200:21:22

I can put my TV in there, the Xbox and everything.

0:21:220:21:25

Give me somewhere to go.

0:21:250:21:26

I think it'd be a bit out of order if they don't let us do it.

0:21:260:21:30

-The neighbours have both extended their houses, haven't they?

-Yeah.

0:21:300:21:35

I don't see why they should say no to us.

0:21:350:21:37

So I suppose we really need to go and have a look at the e-mails

0:21:370:21:40

and see what they've got to say for us.

0:21:400:21:43

Right.

0:21:470:21:48

Let's have a look and see what the council have got to say.

0:21:500:21:52

So that's the official decision notice.

0:21:520:21:55

Here we go.

0:21:550:21:57

So, that's official.

0:21:570:21:59

We have got our planning permission!

0:21:590:22:02

A yes for the Bretts!

0:22:030:22:05

Callum decided that the Juliet balcony

0:22:050:22:08

wouldn't look too out of place in the street.

0:22:080:22:10

And what about the balcony?

0:22:100:22:12

Yes, because that's on those plans. So that's it.

0:22:120:22:16

Well, that's marvellous, isn't it?

0:22:160:22:18

Yeah - kids shipped out of the house.

0:22:180:22:19

Yes. Children in the garden.

0:22:190:22:22

We're all very pleased with that, aren't we? Yes? Yes?

0:22:220:22:26

Happy days.

0:22:260:22:28

It'll be a lot of work, obviously -

0:22:280:22:30

building a two-storey extension is not, you know,

0:22:300:22:34

it's not five minutes' work.

0:22:340:22:36

Fast forward three months...

0:22:360:22:37

..and while the Bretts haven't started work on their extension yet,

0:22:380:22:41

they've pretty much completed the kids' garden den.

0:22:410:22:44

The cabin, we finished that,

0:22:440:22:46

we finished the interior of the cabin as well,

0:22:460:22:48

which, again, has made a nice, useful space

0:22:480:22:53

for the children to have their friends around.

0:22:530:22:56

It's really good, cos before,

0:22:560:22:57

if I wanted people around, it was a bit of a problem

0:22:570:22:59

because everyone got annoyed at making noise in the house,

0:22:590:23:03

but now you just sort of come down here, they can't hear,

0:23:030:23:07

it's pretty soundproof.

0:23:070:23:08

Over the past couple of months since Christmas,

0:23:080:23:11

it's been a bit full-on

0:23:110:23:12

and I definitely would like to get off the merry-go-round sometimes,

0:23:120:23:17

but you've just got to keep plodding on,

0:23:170:23:19

cos you know, in the end, it'll be so worth it.

0:23:190:23:22

In leafy Dulwich, Nitin's is about to find out

0:23:250:23:28

if he too will get planning permission

0:23:280:23:30

to build the house of his dreams

0:23:300:23:32

with the additional feature he wants.

0:23:320:23:34

He's got the OK from Dulwich Estates,

0:23:340:23:36

but it's vital he gets a positive decision from Southwark Council.

0:23:360:23:40

His architect and building team are all together with him on site

0:23:400:23:44

to hear the crucial news.

0:23:440:23:45

PHONE RINGS

0:23:450:23:47

WOMAN ON PHONE: Good afternoon, Planning.

0:23:510:23:52

Hi, is that Anna? It's Nitin here.

0:23:520:23:54

I'm just ringing to see if there's any updates on the application.

0:23:540:23:58

I believe it's due any minute now,

0:23:580:24:00

so I was wondering if it's been approved or not.

0:24:000:24:03

It went through our managers this morning,

0:24:030:24:06

and it was approved.

0:24:060:24:07

Oh, brilliant. Excellent. Thank you so much.

0:24:070:24:10

That's a yes for Nitin!

0:24:100:24:12

Anna decided that his extension

0:24:120:24:14

wouldn't have an unacceptable impact on the neighbours.

0:24:140:24:17

It's been an interesting journey. At least we've made it this far.

0:24:170:24:20

We can crack on with the main bit of the house.

0:24:200:24:22

Now that we've got permission,

0:24:220:24:24

the next stage is going to be hammering out the finances

0:24:240:24:26

with the builder and the main contractor

0:24:260:24:29

and deciding on the specification - the finer detail of it.

0:24:290:24:34

That actually is hopefully going to be fairly plain sailing,

0:24:340:24:38

because it was with the first phase, which was much bigger works.

0:24:380:24:41

Fingers crossed we'll be speaking in the next week or so

0:24:410:24:44

and hopefully they'll be getting their diggers in

0:24:440:24:47

a couple of weeks after that.

0:24:470:24:49

Within three weeks, I hope to hear some noises - we'll see.

0:24:490:24:53

It's worth remembering that whatever plans you submit,

0:24:530:24:56

you can make amendments and add requests for extra features

0:24:560:25:00

at any point in the process,

0:25:000:25:01

even if you've started your building work.

0:25:010:25:04

Neighbours would have to be re-consulted,

0:25:040:25:06

but it's worth it to get the home that exactly suits your needs.

0:25:060:25:09

In Hastings, the Bretts have also been thinking hard

0:25:140:25:16

about what they need.

0:25:160:25:18

The kids' cabin is up, and Richard's built himself

0:25:180:25:20

a similar-style office in the back garden.

0:25:200:25:23

But the family have reassessed their priorities for their building work,

0:25:230:25:26

and this has impacted on their timetable.

0:25:260:25:29

We decided not to start the extension this year

0:25:310:25:34

because we want to develop the left-hand side of the house.

0:25:340:25:37

Lisa wants her kitchen really this year,

0:25:370:25:40

which is a higher priority

0:25:400:25:42

than having a big dining room and extending the bedroom.

0:25:420:25:45

By the time we've had our holiday,

0:25:450:25:46

we'll be starting in the middle of August,

0:25:460:25:48

and it's not a good idea to take the roof off your house in October.

0:25:480:25:52

Too true, Richard.

0:25:530:25:55

The family have three years to get started on their renovations.

0:25:550:25:58

Interestingly, the council estimate

0:25:580:26:00

10% of approvals never get built.

0:26:000:26:03

But after getting the green light for everything,

0:26:030:26:05

including his balcony,

0:26:050:26:07

Richard is determined he will extend,

0:26:070:26:09

and he's feeling positive about the whole experience.

0:26:090:26:13

I've got to say the council have been very helpful,

0:26:130:26:15

the planning department.

0:26:150:26:17

Callum from the planning department was a really nice guy.

0:26:180:26:21

Yeah, there were a few "ums" and "ahs"

0:26:210:26:24

over a couple of changes we wanted to make,

0:26:240:26:26

but you can understand totally why they've got to have these rules

0:26:260:26:30

and they are all...I've always found them to be human beings

0:26:300:26:34

who'll come round and discuss things with you

0:26:340:26:36

and there's always a compromise.

0:26:360:26:38

It has been, and I'm sure it will be,

0:26:380:26:40

a good experience, hasn't it?

0:26:400:26:42

-Yes.

-I'm glad we did it, yeah.

0:26:420:26:44

In Dulwich Village, Nitin's building work is not far off completion.

0:26:480:26:52

Over the last five or six weeks, the glazing has gone in,

0:26:530:26:55

the staircase has been finished,

0:26:550:26:57

so the treads and risers are all in

0:26:570:26:58

and it's gone up three flights as opposed to the existing two flights,

0:26:580:27:01

so that's the main change of the house,

0:27:010:27:03

but that was all in phase one.

0:27:030:27:04

Phase two is still yet to commence

0:27:040:27:06

but hopefully we're about two or three weeks away

0:27:060:27:09

from the foundations being dug for that.

0:27:090:27:11

With such a huge, long-term project,

0:27:110:27:14

Nitin and his family have had to be patient,

0:27:140:27:16

but much of the first phase is now complete,

0:27:160:27:19

with only the family area left to build.

0:27:190:27:22

So what we're hoping for, in a few months' time,

0:27:220:27:24

is for a taller room, a bigger room for us to enjoy

0:27:240:27:29

and, yeah, very much an ideal living scenario.

0:27:290:27:32

There's not really a single thing I regret about it

0:27:320:27:35

and I would do exactly the same thing again.

0:27:350:27:37

Nitin has planned it and is building it.

0:27:390:27:42

He will soon get a large family home in a coveted neighbourhood.

0:27:420:27:45

Moreover, house prices in the area

0:27:450:27:48

have gone up almost 5% in the last year,

0:27:480:27:50

so he will add massive value to his overall investment.

0:27:500:27:53

The Bretts will also get the space they dreamt of by next year

0:27:570:28:00

and their changes also make sound financial sense.

0:28:000:28:03

Similar sized properties in their road sell for over 400 grand -

0:28:030:28:08

an impressive uplift on their £249,000 outlay.

0:28:080:28:12

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