Planning Permission - Overwhelmed!

DougieCC

Hi there,

My husband and I are in the process of putting together ideas for our future house. We have a site already, however it is quite remote (surrounded by fields, nearest house is 2 fields away).

I'm looking for guidance on where to start basically! Can anyone direct me on the steps to take? We are completely new to this and I hear we might need soil testing and get someone out with regards to sorting utilities etc before we would apply for planning permission?

If anyone knows what we need to start with and what steps to take thereafter and a general idea of what cost would be we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks guys.

pwurple

Have you an architect? Speak to architects. They outline the costs of their services up front, and most of them will put in the PP for you if they are doing the plans as well.

sunnysoutheast

I'd suggest you post this in Rec->Home & Garden->Construction & Planning.

This forum is basically for posts confirming that landlords, tenants, sellers, buyers, auctioneers (especially auctioneers) are all awkward bast*rds!

TheDriver

And don't forget the new regs since march, quite onerous. Be prepared for hair pulling

DougieCC

pwurple wrote: »

Have you an architect? Speak to architects. They outline the costs of their services up front, and most of them will put in the PP for you if they are doing the plans as well.

Thanks for the reply pwurple, we haven't got an architect yet, very early stage at the moment so we weren't sure if we needed to do any site testing or anything of that nature first. Would the architect be able to help with sort of thing? Sorry for the lack of knowledge here, very new to all this!

DougieCC

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

I'd suggest you post this in Rec->Home & Garden->Construction & Planning.

This forum is basically for posts confirming that landlords, tenants, sellers, buyers, auctioneers (especially auctioneers) are all awkward bast*rds!

Thank you sunnysoutheast. I have posted my question there so hopefully will get some answers there, thanks for the direction!

hereford

you will save 40 percet if you self build. but giving it to a builder might suit you .you need to keep an eye on everything
take nothing for granted
if you can try and be there everyday to make decisions. also price around for architects .they can charge crazy money

dharma200

hereford ar eyou aware of the new regs.... self build almost impossible.

dharma200

also it is nearly impossible to be on site everyday .. infact it is likely you will be barred from site.

DougieCC

With regards to self building, I don't think it would be a viable option for us, but would like to try and organise as much as possible at the moment before we pick a builder etc!

Does anyone know how / if we need to get the site soil tested / looked at for electricity etc before planning? And if so how much does it roughly cost to get the site checked out?

Victor

DougieCC wrote: »

Does anyone know how / if we need to get the site soil tested / looked at for electricity etc before planning? And if so how much does it roughly cost to get the site checked out?

If there is no mains sewer, you will need a septic tank and soil testing. The construction professional you engage will be able to arrange this and advise on approximate costs - I would imagine a few hundred euros for testing.

Expect to pay another ~€1,000 to get drawings, planning fees, etc.

DougieCC

Victor wrote: »

If there is no mains sewer, you will need a septic tank and soil testing. The construction professional you engage will be able to arrange this and advise on approximate costs - I would imagine a few hundred euros for testing.

Expect to pay another ~€1,000 to get drawings, planning fees, etc.

Thank you Victor, that is just what I needed to know! It's hard to know where to start but I'll get the ball rolling with that. Appreciate your help!

Victor

Moved from Accommodation & Property

Moderator

meeeeh

DougieCC wrote: »

With regards to self building, I don't think it would be a viable option for us, but would like to try and organise as much as possible at the moment before we pick a builder etc!

Does anyone know how / if we need to get the site soil tested / looked at for electricity etc before planning? And if so how much does it roughly cost to get the site checked out?

I can't remember most of the stuff anymore but I know we first applied for outline permission. It's basic stuff to see if you would be even allowed to build. You could call your coco to se what is needed and ask for advice should you go straight for planning or first just outline. After that we engaged an architect, he was about 5000 during celtic tiger years. We did a lot ourselves and the timber house suppliers from another country were correcting his stuff to comply with irish legalisation. But he was good at getting our stuff through planning. You need a letter from ESB saying that they will connect you. You also need water connection, soil testing done and a letter from suppliers of septic tank. They charged us deposit of 300 euro so think carefully who you want to go with. We also wrote local need letter (they didn't want investment building where we live), bf got a letter he is a member of local gaa (he hates it) and so on... Then you need full plans. I don't remember exactly but I would say we easily spent 5-7 thousand at this stage. The prices might be lower now. We got full planning on first application. Think things through because if something is in planning and you later realise it is too expensive you have to apply for changes.

DougieCC

meeeeh wrote: »

I can't remember most of the stuff anymore but I know we first applied for outline permission. It's basic stuff to see if you would be even allowed to build. You could call your coco to se what is needed and ask for advice should you go straight for planning or first just outline. After that we engaged an architect, he was about 5000 during celtic tiger years. We did a lot ourselves and the timber house suppliers from another country were correcting his stuff to comply with irish legalisation. But he was good at getting our stuff through planning. You need a letter from ESB saying that they will connect you. You also need water connection, soil testing done and a letter from suppliers of septic tank. They charged us deposit of 300 euro so think carefully who you want to go with. We also wrote local need letter (they didn't want investment building where we live), bf got a letter he is a member of local gaa (he hates it) and so on... Then you need full plans. I don't remember exactly but I would say we easily spent 5-7 thousand at this stage. The prices might be lower now. We got full planning on first application. Think things through because if something is in planning and you later realise it is too expensive you have to apply for changes.

That is fantastic advice, thank you so much for taking the time to write your post. It makes things alot clearer with regards to what steps to take first etc!

It's an exciting but also very daunting time, and I think as you mentioned we need to really consider carefully what suppliers etc we choose. I really appreciate your post!

hexosan

• Get a very good local architect €5k+
•Apply for a percolation test €500-600
•Driver man to excavate percolation trial holes €200-250
•Planning application approx €600
•solicitor €1800-2200
•Engineer €2k+
•mortgage application (prepare to have your head wreaked here)

That should start you off

With the new regs you'll find it next to impossible to self build and unless you have some sort of construction background and an extremely flexible job that allows you to be on site every day it's just not worth it. Never mind anyone that says you'll save 40%, their talking out of their behind.

TowerCross

DougieCC

We are pretty much in the same position as yourselves.

A few small differences. We don't own the site (father does), applied for planning to see if it is granted. If it is then we will buy the site otherwise there is no point!

We spoke with an architect who has been involved quite a few one-off (and estate developments) in the area so is very familiar with the A3 requirements & the type of house that the planners like to see. We are in an A3 area and it is VERY difficult to get planning here now but we are very hopeful for a number of reasons:
1. it is a family site.
2. it is the last site on a row of 8 to be built on (they were originally council semi-detached cottages with an acre each over 100 years ago).
3. I am born & bred in the area, all my family are within spitting distance of this site too.

We had planned to apply for outline planning but the architect recommended going straight for full planning so that is what we did. We listened to what he told us he felt we could have (no 2-storey, no 1.5, no dormer etc.) and have come up with what we hope will be accepted.

Application went in the first week of May, slight delay of 2 weeks as it was deemed incomplete because the architect forgot to specify change of access on the planning notes. The date of submission passed on 30th of June and we will find out on the 21st of this month.

The architect fees came to just under €4k. That included ads for the papers, planning application fees, VAT (which is a fecking killer) and then there was an €800 fee separate for a soil analysis that was submitted with the application. The architect has agreed to speak to the planners if there is a refusal and a redesign is required to pass planning.

So hope that is some help & best of luck.

DougieCC

TowerCross wrote: »

DougieCC

We are pretty much in the same position as yourselves.

A few small differences. We don't own the site (father does), applied for planning to see if it is granted. If it is then we will buy the site otherwise there is no point!

We spoke with an architect who has been involved quite a few one-off (and estate developments) in the area so is very familiar with the A3 requirements & the type of house that the planners like to see. We are in an A3 area and it is VERY difficult to get planning here now but we are very hopeful for a number of reasons:
1. it is a family site.
2. it is the last site on a row of 8 to be built on (they were originally council semi-detached cottages with an acre each over 100 years ago).
3. I am born & bred in the area, all my family are within spitting distance of this site too.

We had planned to apply for outline planning but the architect recommended going straight for full planning so that is what we did. We listened to what he told us he felt we could have (no 2-storey, no 1.5, no dormer etc.) and have come up with what we hope will be accepted.

Application went in the first week of May, slight delay of 2 weeks as it was deemed incomplete because the architect forgot to specify change of access on the planning notes. The date of submission passed on 30th of June and we will find out on the 21st of this month.

The architect fees came to just under €4k. That included ads for the papers, planning application fees, VAT (which is a fecking killer) and then there was an €800 fee separate for a soil analysis that was submitted with the application. The architect has agreed to speak to the planners if there is a refusal and a redesign is required to pass planning.

So hope that is some help & best of luck.

That is brilliant advice, thank you so much for posting. I hope all goes well for you in the next few months. I really appreciate the info, it's hard to know where to start but great to get advice from people like yourself!

Thanks again!

DougieCC

hexosan wrote: »

• Get a very good local architect €5k+
•Apply for a percolation test €500-600
•Driver man to excavate percolation trial holes €200-250
•Planning application approx €600
•solicitor €1800-2200
•Engineer €2k+
•mortgage application (prepare to have your head wreaked here)

That should start you off

With the new regs you'll find it next to impossible to self build and unless you have some sort of construction background and an extremely flexible job that allows you to be on site every day it's just not worth it. Never mind anyone that says you'll save 40%, their talking out of their behind.

Thank you for the advice, it's great to have a guideline with regards to cost. We would love to have some sort of budget set out so this helps massively! I appreciate it!