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As a member of the FMB, loft conversion London specialist NU Lofts have taken part in helping to turn around a decision set to affect many homeowners with loft conversion plans in London. The ‘save our lofts’ campaign was extremely successful and helped to sway the government into a u-turn on this decision.

The government under the bill had planned to impose regulations that would mean many restrictions on the size of proposed lofts. They had proposed to allow only lofts that were at least 1m away from the eaves allowing some privacy to neighbours.

Graham Chappell Director of NU Lofts says

“Had this been allowed to stand this would have meant that many homeowners , particularly in smaller or cottage style houses would have found it difficult to justify lofts due to the internal space restriction. This would have eaten significantly into the internal space, made planning of the staircase and any bathroom much more difficult and effectively would have meant that homeowners would have to give up or go into the queuing system of the planning departments.”

The intention of the white paper was the exact opposite to free up time and expense of planners throughout the country by allowing more of the sheer volume of planning applications to go through the permitted development route.

Currently a lot of time and funds are tied up in the planning exercise despite the fact that 90 percent get approved immediately at the end of the usual 8 week waiting period.

Permitted development means that you do not have to go to the planning department for a decision but can do the works without needing to seek the prior approval and/ or permission from the local council.

The oversight would have meant that an increasing number of people would have to have sought planning permission rather than doing their loft under permitted development as intended putting further unwanted pressure on planners.

Its requirement that the loft conversion must be 0.2 meters above the eaves means that the worst ‘design’ excesses of the past will be avoided without compromising homeowners desire to create more space in their homes.

However, the Government has now relented and its new Planning Reform Bill will allow householders to have a loft conversion under permitted development rules provided it does not exceed 40 cubic meters in a terraced house or 50 cubic meters in a semi detached house.

This is just a short snippet of information provided by Chappellbuild Ltd a loft conversion Fulham based company with experience loft conversion projects around the inner and north London areas.
The only real downside to the above is the fact that neighboring homeowners are now less likely to be able to object to the fact that they may be overlooked by lofts or single storey extensions.

The result of all this is that, unlike so often, everyone wins, the government and homeowners wanting loft conversion alike.

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