I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of taking the
up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and groove. Then putting a
house style front door in and making a small work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me from
doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

Tony

Probably wont need planning just building regs but need to check. Your
neighbour can complain to the council about anything but wether the council
listens or does anything is up tpo them
If it doesnt need planning your neighbour can do very little about it and
even if it does they can only make an objection which in your case I doubt
the local authority will entertain

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:10:48 -0000, "Tony Gent"
wrote:

I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of taking the
up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and groove. Then putting a
house style front door in and making a small work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me from
doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

Why not do what many do and simply leave the garage door in place and
build a partition wall immediately behind it? Make the door around
the corner out of sight and you have what you wish whilst maintaining
the same look as other houses.

--
Peter Parry.
http://www.wpp.ltd.uk/

In article ,
Tony Gent wrote:
I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of taking
the up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and groove. Then
putting a house style front door in and making a small work area. My
question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me from
doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

I was on a council built estate where all the houses had garages sort of
sticking out the front, and all of them had been converted into living
accommodation. I'd guess they were all too small for any sort of car other
than an original Mini.

--
*Money isn't everything, but it sure keeps the kids in touch *

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

As you are not altering the structure of the building or its general
appearance,no regs requires or planning.unless of course your a listed
property.If this is a new build there may be restrictive covenant,requiring
the garage doors to match,but doubtful

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:10:48 -0000, "Tony Gent"
wrote:

I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of taking the
up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and groove. Then putting a
house style front door in and making a small work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me from
doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

If the house was built in the recent past (say, the last 25 years or
so) then the original builder may have put a clause on the property
that any work which changes the presentation or design of the property
must be okay'd by them first. This can even extend to changing the
colour of the windows and eaves. You pay the builder a small fee to
consider your plans, and then they rubber stamp it (or not, as the
case may be).

I know we've got such a clause on our property which is about 8 years
old. House was built by Martin Grant Homes and ISTR the fee was £25.

The stated purpose of this caveat is that the original builder wants
to make sure you aren't going to negatively impact the designs he has
made available. But the real reason as we know all too well is that
the builder wants his own little income stream trickling in.....

PoP

If you really must use the email address provided
with my newsreader please be aware that the email
is processed with spamcop. As a result your email
to me might be treated as spam!

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 23:38:18 +0000, Peter Parry wrote:

On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:10:48 -0000, "Tony Gent"
wrote:

I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of taking the
up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and groove. Then putting a
house style front door in and making a small work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me from
doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

Why not do what many do and simply leave the garage door in place and
build a partition wall immediately behind it? Make the door around
the corner out of sight and you have what you wish whilst maintaining
the same look as other houses.

That's exactly what I did - remember that a metal door is very thermally conductive, so you need a
decent layer of insulation between the door and the partition. If the inside is heated you will also
get a lot of condensation on the surface of the door.

PoP wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:10:48 -0000, "Tony Gent"
wrote:

I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of
taking the up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and
groove. Then putting a house style front door in and making a small
work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me
from doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

If the house was built in the recent past (say, the last 25 years or
so) then the original builder may have put a clause on the property
that any work which changes the presentation or design of the property
must be okay'd by them first. This can even extend to changing the
colour of the windows and eaves. You pay the builder a small fee to
consider your plans, and then they rubber stamp it (or not, as the
case may be).

I know we've got such a clause on our property which is about 8 years
old. House was built by Martin Grant Homes and ISTR the fee was £25.

Well I live in MG house and they told me they are not interested in these
covenants when the houses are more than 10 years old poss even earlier if
they are not doing any more development in the area.
The LA will not enforce them either, its down to other householders to bring
a civil action.
So all in all they are a waste of time. You can pretty well ignore them with
impunity as most people round here seem to.

However, if you change a garage to a habitable room as many of my
neighbours have done, then building control is very interested in insulation
to floor etc. The cost can be non-trivial. This is what the neighbours might
make the LA aware of..
Also someone near here tried to run a buisness in his converted garage and
fell foul of the planning regs...

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 14:51:58 -0000, "BillR"
wrote:


Well I live in MG house and they told me they are not interested in these
covenants when the houses are more than 10 years old poss even earlier if
they are not doing any more development in the area.
The LA will not enforce them either, its down to other householders to bring
a civil action.
So all in all they are a waste of time. You can pretty well ignore them with
impunity as most people round here seem to.

However, if you change a garage to a habitable room as many of my
neighbours have done, then building control is very interested in insulation
to floor etc. The cost can be non-trivial. This is what the neighbours might
make the LA aware of..
Also someone near here tried to run a buisness in his converted garage and
fell foul of the planning regs...

The other issue that comes up with some local authorities with respect
to doing anything to a garage is if it impacts off-road parking. In
other words if you do something that results in extra cars appearing
on the public road outside the house it may cause interest.


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

The other issue that comes up with some local authorities with respect
to doing anything to a garage is if it impacts off-road parking.

Yes, I had issues with this in my last house. I was told that an application
to convert my garage wouldn't be open and shut because a house of that size
required 2 spaces according to the local plan. A space had to be 2.4m x
4.8m. Unfortunately, my drive was 60cm too short to park two cars, so the
garage was officially part of my allowance. The fact that the garage (as all
garages are) was full of junk and there was tonnes of off road parking
wasn't important.

I'm not complaining, though. They said there was a reasonable chance of
success and no fee was payable. I just never got round to it before moving.

Christian.

In article ,
"BillR" writes:
Well I live in MG house and they told me they are not interested in these
covenants when the houses are more than 10 years old poss even earlier if
they are not doing any more development in the area.

You'll need that in writing when you come to sell, if the buyer's
solicitors are doing their job, as a friend of mine recently
found out. His developer charged something like £25 for the letter,
but as you say, couldn't actually care less about the modifications.

--
Andrew Gabriel

"BillR" wrote in message
...
PoP wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:10:48 -0000, "Tony Gent"
wrote:

I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of
taking the up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and
groove. Then putting a house style front door in and making a small
work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me
from doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

If the house was built in the recent past (say, the last 25 years or
so) then the original builder may have put a clause on the property
that any work which changes the presentation or design of the property
must be okay'd by them first. This can even extend to changing the
colour of the windows and eaves. You pay the builder a small fee to
consider your plans, and then they rubber stamp it (or not, as the
case may be).

I know we've got such a clause on our property which is about 8 years
old. House was built by Martin Grant Homes and ISTR the fee was £25.

Well I live in MG house and they told me they are not interested in these
covenants when the houses are more than 10 years old poss even earlier if
they are not doing any more development in the area.
The LA will not enforce them either, its down to other householders to
bring
a civil action.
So all in all they are a waste of time. You can pretty well ignore them
with
impunity as most people round here seem to.

However, if you change a garage to a habitable room as many of my
neighbours have done, then building control is very interested in
insulation
to floor etc.

They usually want the garage floor and wall up to a foot or so painted with
a couple of coats of Synthaseal.

The cost can be non-trivial. This is what the neighbours might
make the LA aware of..
Also someone near here tried to run a buisness in his converted garage and
fell foul of the planning regs...

What is all this the government is on about then, about working from home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or having 6
cars permanently parked outside.


---
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On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 16:44:59 -0000, "IMM" wrote:




What is all this the government is on about then, about working from home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or having 6
cars permanently parked outside.


It's usually called hypocrisy.


---

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 16:44:59 -0000, "IMM" wrote:




What is all this the government is on about then, about working from
home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or having
6
cars permanently parked outside.


It's usually called hypocrisy.

More the right hand doesn't know what the left had is doing. Westminster
promote home working and the LAs revert to pettiness, sticking to laws
passed before Westminster dictated. You would probably find that the LA is
wrong, not conforming to Westminster's dictates.


---
--

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Version: 6.0.558 / Virus Database: 350 - Release Date: 02/01/2004

"IMM" wrote in message
...

What is all this the government is on about then, about working from
home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or
having
6
cars permanently parked outside.


It's usually called hypocrisy.

More the right hand doesn't know what the left had is doing. Westminster
promote home working and the LAs revert to pettiness, sticking to laws
passed before Westminster dictated. You would probably find that the LA
is
wrong, not conforming to Westminster's dictates.




You'll probably find that they're conforming to what Westminster actually
writes down, rather than what it says.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

"RichardS" noaccess@invalid wrote in message
...
"IMM" wrote in message
...

What is all this the government is on about then, about working from
home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or
having
6
cars permanently parked outside.


It's usually called hypocrisy.

More the right hand doesn't know what the left had is doing. Westminster
promote home working and the LAs revert to pettiness, sticking to laws
passed before Westminster dictated. You would probably find that the LA
is
wrong, not conforming to Westminster's dictates.




You'll probably find that they're conforming to what Westminster actually
writes down, rather than what it says.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk



I think that you'll find that you cannot (generally) run a business from
your home (without planning permission from the LA, ie plumber, builder,
anything self-employed), but that there are no restrictions to "working from
home" WRT being employed by someone else and doing their work for them (ie.
office work, book-keeping, sewing garments etc.etc).

--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address


---
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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.559 / Virus Database: 351 - Release Date: 08/01/2004

I work from home and the rules as I understand them are that if the 'office'
is dual purpose, i.e. it has a domestic use as well as business then it is
OK. Once you have a space in which the sole use is business then you get
clobbered with business rates and planning issues. My IT business runs from
my home without any hassle - where as my friends pottery/carpentry gets
clobbered.

as my old dad always said 'nothing is fair in this world'

Jay



"Paul King" wrote in message
s.com...
"RichardS" noaccess@invalid wrote in message
...
"IMM" wrote in message
...

What is all this the government is on about then, about working
from
home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or
having
6
cars permanently parked outside.


It's usually called hypocrisy.

More the right hand doesn't know what the left had is doing.
Westminster
promote home working and the LAs revert to pettiness, sticking to laws
passed before Westminster dictated. You would probably find that the
LA
is
wrong, not conforming to Westminster's dictates.




You'll probably find that they're conforming to what Westminster
actually
writes down, rather than what it says.

--
Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk



I think that you'll find that you cannot (generally) run a business from
your home (without planning permission from the LA, ie plumber, builder,
anything self-employed), but that there are no restrictions to "working
from
home" WRT being employed by someone else and doing their work for them
(ie.
office work, book-keeping, sewing garments etc.etc).

--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address


---
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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.559 / Virus Database: 351 - Release Date: 08/01/2004

"Paul King" wrote in message
s.com...
"RichardS" noaccess@invalid wrote in message
...
"IMM" wrote in message
...

What is all this the government is on about then, about working
from
home,
etc, etc. I can understand if the man was holding large stocks or
having
6
cars permanently parked outside.


It's usually called hypocrisy.

More the right hand doesn't know what the left had is doing.
Westminster
promote home working and the LAs revert to pettiness, sticking to laws
passed before Westminster dictated. You would probably find that the
LA
is
wrong, not conforming to Westminster's dictates.

You'll probably find that they're conforming to what Westminster
actually
writes down, rather than what it says.

Richard Sampson

email me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

I think that you'll find that you cannot (generally) run a business from
your home (without planning permission from the LA, ie plumber, builder,
anything self-employed), but that there are no restrictions to "working
from
home" WRT being employed by someone else and doing their work for them
(ie.
office work, book-keeping, sewing garments etc.etc).

Set up a company based elsewhere, and then work from home. A plumber can be
based at his home, as his work is elsewhere.



---
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On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 10:41:58 -0000, "IMM" wrote:


"Paul King" wrote in message
ws.com...


I think that you'll find that you cannot (generally) run a business from
your home (without planning permission from the LA, ie plumber, builder,
anything self-employed), but that there are no restrictions to "working
from
home" WRT being employed by someone else and doing their work for them
(ie.
office work, book-keeping, sewing garments etc.etc).

Set up a company based elsewhere, and then work from home. A plumber can be
based at his home, as his work is elsewhere.

Nice idea, but they are wise to that one. For example, it's no good
just establishing a limited company and using the accountant's address
as the registered office. They look for where trading is actually
happening. So for a lot of businesses, the only way round it would be
to have an industrial unit or office somewhere (which costs of
course), and then work from home "occasionally". It is easier for a
sole trader like a plumber, as you say. With respect to the LA, a
lot of the issue is the profile that you have. If you make a big
negative visual impact on the surroundings then people will notice.




---

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Thanks for all your advice. I think I will put in a second side door and
block the up n over door form the inside.
What nobody knows wont hurt um eh.

Cheers

Tony
"Tony Gent" wrote in message
...
I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of taking
the
up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and groove. Then putting a
house style front door in and making a small work area.
My question is are there any planning regulation that will stop me from
doing this. Can my neighbour complain to the council etc.

Tony

"Tony Gent" wrote
| Thanks for all your advice. I think I will put in a second side door
| and block the up n over door form the inside.
| What nobody knows wont hurt um eh.

You'll need Building Regs approval for the new opening for the side door.

You could replace the up and over door with a pair of timber side-hung
doors, draughtproofed and well insulated but still openable for getting big
stuff in and out, and have a small door inset into one of the big doors for
pedestrian access.

Owain

"Owain" wrote in message
...
"
You'll need Building Regs approval for the new opening for the side door.


Owain



Several years ago I rang up the council building control to ask about
putting a side door in a brickbuilt garage. Their reply was along the lines
of

"Yes, in theory this is a structural alteration, but it is too trivial for
us to bother with - just go and do it - we are not interested"

James


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Mike Harrison wrote:
Peter Parry wrote:
"Tony Gent" wrote:
I have a garage that my car will not fit in, so I am thinking of
taking the up n over door off and replacing it with tongue and
groove. Then putting a house style front door in and making a
small work area. My question is are there any planning regulation
that will stop me from doing this. Can my neighbour complain to
the council etc.

It should be fine if you just do it, it's just a garage/workshop
anyway (although why people'd want to keep a wet, salty car in
their workshops beats me).

Why not do what many do and simply leave the garage door in place and
build a partition wall immediately behind it? Make the door around
the corner out of sight and you have what you wish whilst maintaining
the same look as other houses.

That's exactly what I did - remember that a metal door is very
thermally conductive, so you need a decent layer of insulation
between the door and the partition. If the inside is heated you
will also get a lot of condensation on the surface of the door.

I removed an up'n'over steel door from my garage (mind your *fingers*
on the *spring*, Malcom!), and the partition built as above. This
gave me an extra metre of space, worth having, *and* meant a
considerable reduction in draughts and in-blown water. The construction
involved removing the door as above, and the two concrete uprights.
I laid a 4x2 about 1" off the (uneven) concrete floor, and constructed
studwork off this to another 4x2 under the concrete lintel that ran
above the up'n'over. A 6' x 30" door with two locks is on one side,
a square window above work bench height on the other. I inserted a
DPM under the base plate, and packed in mortar (sharp/cement/
waterproofer). Facing is 1/2" Sterling board overlaid with horizontal
feather edge. Great! No leaks, or draughts, or condensation!