In message , John
Smith writes
Round my way, and I suppose this is increasingly common, I look at houses
and think "That has a nice bit of land but the house is crap - why can't I
knock it down and build a new one but a quality new one!" How difficult is
it to get permission to do this? Doesn't the new house have to reflect the
old house to such an extent that it defeats the purpose?

I don't know how difficult it is, but certainly this is one way that
selfbuilders get a decent plot nowadays. There were a couple of examples
on Grand Designs IIRC. The house knocked down were nothing like the ones
they built.

Though I guess this very much depends on the area and on the other
houses, planning guidelines etc.
--
Chris French, Leeds