West Didsbury – the best place to live in Manchester?
According to a recent article in The Times by Anne Ashworth in the ‘Bricks & Mortar’ property section in which she profiles the 30 best places to live in the UK, West Didsbury is listed as No 10 – she says its a great place to live ‘A leavy city “burb” with a bohemian bent just south of Manchester and connected to the city centre by a new Metrolink. Burton Road is all indie restaurants, bars and shops selling furniture, craft ale and vintage ddresses. Veggie restauarant Greens, The Lime Tree and...
read morePlans 4 Spring
Do you have plans for your Spring? We have, as Plans 4 Your Home has been busy this Spring producing Plans for the many house extension & refurbishment contacts we currently have in hand in both the Planning & Building Regulations stages. Each project is very interesting and as different as the differing house style, site and client’s brief we have been given, each one in its own unique way allowing full reign to our design and ingenuity skills – see the thumbnail sketches of some of them. Spring is the time...
read moreInstalling Solar Panels on your roof
This useful article about Solar Panels appeared in the Times Home & Property Section recently:- ‘Roof-mounted solar panels are still popular despite the recent reduction in feed-in tariffs. Many specialist firms will install panels for nothing and lease the airspace above a roof for a period of (say) 25 years. If this is your intention, the arrangement would be a lease of more than seven years — so it would have to be formally made by deed and registered with the Land Registry. Whether you enter into this kind of arrangement or install...
read moreWoodford Garden Suburb
Bat Whardell, principal of Plans4 Your Home, remembers going to Woodford Areodrome as an excited child with his father to look at the prototypes of the Vulcan bomber – how things have changed! As reported on the Planning Portal ‘Developers Harrow Estates, Redrow Homes and Avro Heritage have submitted a planning application to Stockport Council for a 950-home redevelopment “garden suburb“ scheme on the site of the Woodford Aerodrome. As well as housing, the proposals for the 500-acre site include a new primary school, employment space, a pub,...
read moreManchester Metro Inner Tram Route
There is good News for Manchester on the Planning portal:- ‘Powers to install a second Metrolink tram route through the heart of Manchester city centre have been approved by the Government. The route – through St Peter’s Square, along Princess Street, Cross Street and Corporation Street and re-joining the existing Metrolink line just outside Victoria station – was the subject of a major consultation in 2011 and a public inquiry earlier this year.’ The new route will provide a more ‘joined up’ inner metro city link making it easier to get...
read moreBuild sizeable house Extensions without Planning Approval
Home owner Planning Regulations for extensions have been relaxed even further between now and May 2016 making it possible to build up to 6-8 metres projection from the rear or side of your house without planning approval under revised ‘permitted development’ rights just issued by the Planning Minister Nick Boles – however the roof of your extension should not be more than 4 metres high nor stand above the existing roofline of your property nor should it project beyond the front elevation. In addition the extension, including outbuildings,...
read moreRent your Drive
This is an extract from the Governments new guidance on renting out your drive for Parking published on 3rd August. ‘Across the country, assisted by the internet “matching”, households are renting out their spare or unused dedicated off-street parking space in and near town centres, train stations and sports grounds. This provides a small income for hard-working families, and helps provide more cheap parking spaces for people to park their car, taking pressure away from on-street parking. Personal finance experts like Martin Lewis of...
read moreThe Humble Brick
There is nothing humble about the brick as Sarah Huelin, Marketing & Design Manager of the Brick Development Association (BDA) explains ‘Brick is one of the most successful materials ever devised. It’s been used to shape the build environment since the beginning of civilisation and has proven itself time and time again ( as fashions come and go ). Brick is made locally by the community and for the local area with natural resources, minimising impact on the environment. It can be crushed and recycled on site – and old lime mortar bricks...
read moreHomeowner Building Regulation Guides
Many householders are confused about how to make their building project comply with Building Regulations. There are two alternative methods Building Notice and Full Plans for which a verification process and inspection is required to be carried out by a Building Control Body usually the Local Authority Building Control ( LABC ) but it can also be a private approved inspector. A Full Plans submission is the recommended method as construction drawings & details are submitted and formally approved and vetted...
read morePlanning Applications made easier
It is good news for home owners as new rules, announced on the Planning Portal on 6 June, will mean only major developments, and some applications in designated areas and listed building consents, will require Design and Access Statements. “Reducing the number of applications that require a Design and Access Statement would remove statutory burdens on applicants, but it is not considered that this would be at the expense of good design and accessibility. As such, the proposal will...
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