One room extension - planning permission?

[Explorer-8]

In 2003, I paid an architectural technician to draw me a plan for a ground floor extension, with just one bedroom, to my semi-detached house. This would have involved dismantling my pre-fabricated garage which is not joined to the house.

The planning officers turned it down because they said that I should not remove the garage.

Now that planning permission is no longer required, since the law was changed in October, could I go ahead and get it built without any bother from the authorities?

[buildersmate]

Impossible to say so I recommend that you check with the planning authority.
I suspect the issue is that you do not have an alternative place to park a car - other than on the public highway. This would normally be a valid reason for refusal to permit a structure to be built on the place where a car can be parked.
Do you have a decent length of driveway?

[jenniprice]

You don't normally need planning to demolish a building unless it is in a conservation area.
If they didn't want you to remove this then check you don't need permission to get rid now.
Or you make have a restriction or condition on yoru property.

Planning rules changed in October that now you can do a single storey extension aslong as no more than 4 metres deep if detached house, or 3 metres deep if any other house, and aslong as no higher than 4 m then you can do it.

Most councils do free enquiry service or give advice so I would check with them first to be sure.
If it's been refused in the past then you don't want to risk building it if they make you tear it down.

[Explorer-8]

Thanks buildersmate and jenniprice.

My drive from the gate to the garage is about 3.5 metres long. My room extension would be 3.75 metres long by 2.08 metres wide, the same length and width as my garage is now.

A year or two after the planning officers had turned down my application, I got the architectural technician to draw me up a plan for a brick garage with a first floor bedroom on top joined to the house. This time it was accepted. I got two quotes from builders for about �35,000 each and so I gave up on that idea.

[buildersmate]

What I'm getting at is that if you have space for off-road parking now and you won't have after you've built the extension, the planners may have a problem.
If you've been turned down once, they will have told you why.

[Explorer-8]

My drive is 3.5 metres long and the average car is about 5 metres long and so it wouldn't really be suitable as a parking space.

My garage is 3.75 metres long and so it doesn't really serve its purpose unless someone has a small car or a motor bike.