Hints and Tips

For those of you about to embark on the exciting experience of building your first home or giving your existing home a much needed extension and makeover, there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Firstly there is the planning process. For a lot of people this may seem very daunting and indeed sometimes off-putting. While it has been well documented that planning permission approvals have been on the increase nationwide over the last year, there remains a set criteria that your proposed house and site must comply with in order to ensure that planning permission will be granted. These are set out in the local authority’s county development plan which will tell you how the area in which you propose obtaining planning permission is zoned, the design principles that must be adopted when designing your house and the objectives that you, as an applicant, must meet in order to comply with the county development plan.

These are broken up into three zoning factors.

1. Areas under strong urban influence

These are locations that are on the outskirts of our city and major towns. These locations are very desirable locations to build your house and live. In order to ensure that these areas are not overrun with new one-off houses, the council have set stringent objectives for applicants to meet before they apply for planning permission.

In order to demonstrate a housing need, any of the below criteria should be met:

• the application is being made by a long-term landowner or his/her son or daughter; or
• the applicant is engaged in working the family farm and the house is for that

person’s own use; or

• the applicant is working in essential rural activities and for this reason needs to be accommodated near their place of work; or
• the application is being made by a local rural person(s) who, for family and/or

work reasons wish to live in the local rural area in which they spent a substantial period of their lives (minimum 10 years).

(B) Area under strong Agricultural Base

These are locations where there is a traditionally strong agricultural base which is usually with areas with a network of smaller rural towns and villages.

In order to demonstrate a housing need in these areas any of the below criteria should be met:

• the application is being made by a long-term landowner or his/her son or

daughter seeking to build their first home on the family lands; or

• the applicant is engaged in working the family farm and the house is for that

person’s own use; or

• the applicant is working in essential rural activities and for this reason needs to

be accommodated near their place of work; or

• the application is being made by a local rural person(s) who, for family and/or

work reasons, wish to live in the local rural area in which they have spent a substantial

period of their lives (minimum10 years) and are seeking to build their first home in

the local rural area.

(C) Areas under structurally weak Base

These are usually areas that the council deem to be under-populated or considered to be economically weaker than other areas within the county. There is little or no applicant criteria to be met apart from the standard planning regulations which would be assessed on your application once it is lodged.

Once you are happy that, as an applicant, you comply with the above regulations it is now time to put together your planning application.

This is made up of:

• a local Map – 6 copies
• site and layout plans – 6 copies
• plans, elevations and sections of the proposed house that you wish to build – 6 copies
• Site suitability report (percolation test), if required
• Completed local authority planning application form
• Copies of public notices, these are the newspaper ads and the site notices
• The planning application fee which for a new house is €64 and for an extension is €34

Developments Exempt from Planning Permission

Extension – a single storey extension can be constructed at the rear of a house by not more than 40 square meters

Terraced or Semi-Detached houses – The floor area of a two storey extension cannot exceed 12 square meters. Any two storey extension must be at least 2 meters from any boundary. It is important to ensure that any extension does not exceed the height of the original house and also does not reduce the garden to less than 25 square meters.

Garage – You can build a garage on the condition that it does not extend out beyond the front of the existing house and does not exceed 4 meters in height. The maximum size of a garage that can be constructed without seeking planning permission is no more than 25 square meters. Just like extensions, the construction of a garage must not result in the garden being less than 25 square meters.

Front Porch – A porch to the front of the house can be constructed without planning permission as long as it is no more than 2 square meters in size, at least 2 meters from any public road or footpath and does not exceed 4 meters in height.

Walls, Fences and Gates – Walls and fences can be constructed around your property as long as they do not exceed 1.2m in height at the front of your house or 2metres  in height at the side or rear of the house. Gates may be constructed or replaced as long as they are not greater than 2 meters in height.

It is important to note that if you wish to widen your existing site entrance or construct a new one, that planning permission will need to be sought.

Other items not requiring Planning Permission:

– Chimney and boiler house

– paths, ponds and patios

– t.v. aerials

Above are the basics relating to Planning Permission requirements.

Designing your own home can be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding things that anyone can do in their lifetime. It gives you the opportunity to get your creative juices flowing. While it is extremely important to recruit the services of a professional, it is also important that you, as the potential occupiers of the house, take ownership of the project. Once the design stage is completed the final design draft should be truly reflective of your needs, requirements and design taste. Before you take the plunge and hire a consultant it is important to do the groundwork. The more information that you can give your consultant, will result in a far more time efficient design period.

The first stage would be to create a brief/wish list, this is going to be the cornerstone for the entire design process. It can be as simple as a bullet point list, similar to a shopping list, an example could be as follows

Design Brief/Wish list

• Design Taste –  Traditional or contemporary
• House Type – Bungalow, Dormer or a two storey
• House Size – 2300 square feet approx.
• No of Bedrooms – 4 to 5
• No. of Bathrooms – 1 main bathroom and two ensuite
• Internal Layout – Open plan or separate rooms.

The above is just a rough guideline of the issues that you would have to have considered prior to recruiting your consultant, photos and images can also accompany the list. By putting together this list it will not only prove invaluable to the design process but it will also help you to focus on what is truly important to you regarding your house design.

There are several factors that have to be taken into account while completing your house design, the main ones are as follows.

House Type

Here we are going back to the first principles of house design, a lot of people have a good idea of the type of house that they would like, i.e. a bungalow, dormer or a two storey house, whichever one is too your liking all 3 modes of house design can either be designed in a traditional way or a contemporary way.

Bungalows for example, generally if you want to have a four to five bedroom bungalow, due to the potential house size, the foot print of the house will be bigger overall. Therefore although there may be a saving with regards to the amount of blockwork that may be required it may prove to be quite expensive when it comes to constructing the foundations and floor. Bungalows if designed right can be very bright and airy and have a great flow to them. A traditional bungalow runs the risk of being very dark. Usually in old bungalows there is a central corridor with rooms off it, more often than not this corridor is very dark with little or no natural light in it. For anyone looking to build a bungalow I would encourage them to break away from the norm, introduce design aspects into the house that will ensure that natural light will flood through the habitable area, i.e. the kitchen, dining and living areas. This can be done through the use of floor to ceiling windows, corner windows, introducing building materials within the house such as frosted glass blocks., design the house in a way that any corridors have an element of natural light to them, this can be done by introducing a vaulted ceiling with a sky light directly over the corridors. Like any house type the more light you can get in it gives the illusion that the house is much bigger than what it actually is.

For dormers again this can be viewed as a traditional mode of constructing a house. But just like with bungalows if careful design and planning are carried out you can introduce a wow factor. To this end I would encourage people to introduce projecting gables, on both the front and the back, this will allow you to introduce new materials on the elevations, for example you have put natural stone on these gables while have the rest of the wall plastered. If you have large area within the house which are open plan, gables will allow you to separate the areas within the open plan, i.e. the kitchen from the dining area and the dining area from the living area.

For two storey houses this is where you can really challenge yourself and indeed your consultant. Like the two other modes of construction the design direction that you take will depend on whether you like a traditional design, contemporary design or a mixture of both. Again I would encourage people to break away from the norm, introduce a courtyard within the design, maybe wings on either side of the house, a grand two storey porch, have traditional vertical windows to the front elevation but modern and contemporary glazing at the rear to take advantage of any views that the house may be exposed too.

Whatever direction your design journey takes you on you should always ensure that the main areas of the house are exposed to as much natural light as possible. I would also say to people to make an effort to what might seem not so important areas of the house, i.e. a porch, with a bit of creativity this could give your house the wow factor. It is important that you in conjunction with your consultant explore as many options as possible, this will get you thinking during the design process and when you finally do come up with the completed design, you will have the peace of mind that it is hitting as many of the main points that you require so you will be comfortable with agreeing the final design.

House Layout

Just like deciding on a house type the layout is extremely important. As mentioned before natural light is very important. The location of the main rooms, i.e. the kitchen, dining and living areas of the house will determine the layout of the house. It is always recommended that you place these rooms which have the better views, as much exposure to the sun a possible, you might consider placing the kitchen area to the east of the house, and the living area to the south west of the house, this will ensure that the kitchen will have natural light in the morning time and the living area will have the last of the evening sun. Through the use of gables which will eliminate a traditional square house you can have these areas as one large room but always exposed to the morning and evening sun. Another item that needs to be addressed is the possible location of any potential playrooms; these should be place to the kitchen and living areas of the house so supervision can be done with ease. The bedrooms are another factor. Modern living shows us the importance of adequate bedroom sizes and wardrobe space. I believe that wardrobe space is vital to have a clutter free house, therefore the introduction of his and hers separate walk-in-wardrobes should be considered, also ensuites. with regards to the master ensuites these should be able to cater to two individuals, with twin sinks and large bathing areas. When deciding on which rooms get ensuites factors that should be considered are the use of “jack in jill” ensuites, this is where two bedrooms share a large ensuite between them. Also the location of bathrooms and ensuites should be grouped together, this will eliminate the high plumbing costs that are associated with several bathrooms spaced far apart. Another important aspect of the house layout that needs to be taken into account is to ensure that there is adequate storage space throughout the house, these can be through the use of cloak rooms, walk-in-wardrobes, bespoke shelving units etc. if a house has not got enough storage space, especially as the occupants of the house grow and develop, it may result in the house becoming very cramped and indeed hard to maintain.

Site

This will have a major influence on the kind of house that you will build. Items to take into consideration when assessing your site, is, location of site entrance, where does the sun rise and set, are there any overhead power lines, is it an elevated site therefore will be exposed to possible high winds, is it a sheltered site, is it a levels site, is it a sloping site which may require a split level house to be considered. Has the site got access to mains water, sewerage etc., if not then these will have to be accommodated within the site. All of the above questions will have a bearing on the location, orientation, height and form of construction of the proposed house.

Neighbouring dwellings

When deciding on what kind of a house that you want to build, a factor that has to be taken into consideration is what is around you, if there are only bungalows all around you and you may be looking to construct a two storey you will have to demonstrate that a two story can sit well amongst all of the bungalows, this can be done through the use of a landscaping plans which can show how a two storey house can be separated from the bungalows. When applying for planning permission traditional county councils will try and encourage you to construct a similar form of houses as what is in the area, so a bit of creative thinking will be needed in order to break away from the norm if that is what you want.

Construction Budget

This is a major issue which always crops up in any project, from the design stage right through to the construction stage. A lot of people will have a good indicate of what their construction budget is before they start the design process. It is very important that all parties involved within the project are clear about the budget. Trying to keep track and indeed within the budget can prove to be very stressful. Experience tells us that when a project goes over budget usually it is a decision that the clients is making, this is for several reasons. As the house is taking shape they can see the full potential of what can be achieved and therefore as they put it “go the extra mile”, but really there are just putting themselves under extra financial pressure. Another reason why budgets are exceeded is because during the fit out stage, i.e. kitchen, tilling wooden floors etc., the budgets that are allocated are not realistic and people tent to stretch themselves for that more expensive tile on their kitchen floor or wooden floor in the bedroom or that fireplace in their living room. I believe that at the very first meeting with your consultant you should give a clear instruction of what is your budget then it is over to them to show you what you can achieve for your budget.

The above are the mains principles that should be at the forefront of your mind when starting the process. Although designing and building your own house can indeed be very stressful and challenging, but with the right team around you it can prove to be one of the most enjoyable experiences you will ever have.

From an architectural point of view cottages are a fantastic way to connect us with rural houses that are greatly steeped in our history and heritage. There are countless examples of these dwellings scattered throughout our country roads. Unfortunately many of them are in very poor condition due to the fact that they have been left idle for large periods of time, neglected if you will, and in a lot of cases, deemed to be unable to adapt to modern living. Over the last couple of years however, my experience has shown me that people’s perceptions of these dwellings are changing. People can now start to see the wonderful potential that many cottages have. I greatly admire anyone who undertakes to renovate and extend these iconic pieces of our rich history. To many it is a labour of love and although it can be very draining, both financially and emotionally, the rewards achieved from the end results far outweighs the burden of the sacrifices made during the project.

There are several things that have to be considered when designing an extension for a cottage but one important thing to remember is not to turn your cottage into a sprawling castle. When it comes to cottages a lot of people make the mistake of constructing large, oversized and out of scale extensions. This will result in you losing the style, character and history of the cottage which more than likely attracted you to the building in the first place. Another consequence of this is that you run the risk of having the internal layout and rooms being unbalanced and out of proportion with the existing cottage.

Many old cottages don’t suit modern living or lifestyles so changes to the layout and distribution of the rooms are inevitable. If you are to successfully extend a cottage you need to have a good understanding of how the internal space works, have a respect for the age and history of the property, ensure that you achieve the appropriate scale both internally and externally of the extension and most importantly, be very careful about the choice of materials that you use.

Design Tips

It is very important that you engage a consultant who can give you advice on how to design an extension that will not detract from the proportions or features of the existing cottage. If possible you should try and maintain the rhythm and flow of the existing architecture. This does not mean that you have to replicate the architectural style or materials in the cottage or that you cannot put your own modern stamp on it. It is worth remembering that many cottages are beautiful because of the extensions that have been added to them.

A design approach that may be used with designing an extension is to have a link between the old and the new, this is great for giving a clear distinction between the cottage and the extension, especially if you wish to create a modern extension. This link could be created around a courtyard which is a great way to let in natural light. Another advantage of this link is that it saves you having to make serious alterations to big thick existing stone walls that may be within the cottage as this can prove to be very costly.

It is important to bear in mind that traditional materials behave differently to modern contemporary products, such as cement, which can, if not used correctly, cause damp and other issues. Issues can also occur in the foundations. When a new extension with deep foundations is attached to an old building with shallow foundations this can cause what is known as settlement. Therefore it is important that if you are using a link between the existing cottage and the extension that it will be able to allow for movement between the two.

If you are considering extending or renovating an old cottage I would recommend you consult a professional who will be able to guild you through the process and give you advice on whether planning permission is required. They could also check if the building is listed or not and give you advice on how to avail of any grants that may be available to you.

There are several reasons why you might consider extending your home – you wish to give it a makeover, it doesn’t suit your present needs, you need more space, you want to add value to your house or quite simply you want to stamp your own look and style on the house. Building an extension can have a great impact on your lifestyle and help you fall in love with your home again. During our housing boom in the early noughties many people bought houses which where deemed to be a starter home, a foot on the property ladder, so didn’t really plan for how they might grow into the house in future years. Our country’s property crash and the plummeting value of our homes, forced people to re-evaluate their present and future aspirations regarding their homes.

There are several key factors that must be taken into consideration when embarking on an extension to your home:

• Why?

Establish what are your motivations for extending. Is it for extra space?  Do you need extra bedrooms, larger kitchen and living space, more storage etc.? Once you have a clear understanding of why you are extending it will help you to stay focused during the design stage and will ensure that you are not going to stretch yourself financially on unnecessary and oversized developments. To this end you should make a list of the things that you don’t like about your house, make a list of things that you do like about your house and visualise how you want to live within the house.  I believe that this is very important to ensure that the investment you are about to make for your home will result in an extension that is truly reflective of your present and future needs and aspirations.

• Your existing house

You need to be aware of the potential that your house has for an extension. By hiring a consultant they will be able to unlock the hidden gems that your home may have. I believe that it is their job to show you something that you haven’t considered. It is very common for people to build over the top extensions when really if they spent more time and effort exploring the possibilities of improving their existing house, i.e. change the layout and sizes of the rooms within the house, they may only need a small extension or none at all. It is also very important to know the limitations of your house. Some people can have unrealistic expectations of what kind of an extension they can build. This can be in the form of their construction budget, their space requirements, if planning permission is required what the council will permit. Again, an experienced consultant should be able to identify these issues and guide you through them.

• Your neighbours

While it is very important to ensure that your extension is truly reflective of your design taste and needs, neighbouring houses should also be taken into consideration. An effort should be made to ensure that any potential extension will be able to blend in with surrounding houses, or if something which is completely different to the architectural style of the area is proposed, then you will have to demonstrate how you can successfully segregate it from the neighbouring dwellings. I would recommend that when you have completed the design process that you show it to your neighbours. I feel that they would not only appreciate this courtesy but it would also give you the opportunity to alleviate any concerns that they may have.

• Your Construction Budget

The cost of constructing an extension can actually be more expensive per meter squared than it would be if building a new home from scratch. There are several reasons for this. For example, the upgrade of the existing house has to be taken into account. It is common for contractors to charge more because the project may be smaller that a new build, therefore not worth as much to them. Establishing a budget is one of the areas where many people fall down, usually through underestimating the time and money required to complete their project. When setting your budget you should include that you may need to move out for a period of time while construction is ongoing so funds should be made available to rent elsewhere. It is vital that you set aside 10% of the overall construction budget as a contingency so you are prepared if any nasty surprises crop up during construction. It is important to account in your budget for any planning permission applications fees that may be required. It is also important to set aside funds for new furniture when the construction is completed.

• Design Process

If you are about to embark on an extension this is your opportunity to finally address any issues that you have with your house, to put your own mark on your home and to make it truly reflective of you and your family. But when designing your extension you must ensure that you are not doing it to the determent of the existing house. A common mistake that people make is to design and build a beautifully spacious extension but at the same time ignoring the existing house. This may result in the old areas of the house being deprived of natural light. It’s all well in good to have a great new kitchen or living room but if you are not using the rest of the house, you are really not much better off. When designing your extension I would encourage you to change the way you live in your house. Don’t be afraid to make bold decisions. This could be deciding to change the location of your kitchen, or living room or even your stairs. Looking at and studying the layout of your existing home to see how it could be improved upon will result in you constructing an extension that is a lot more cost efficient and you may find that you don’t need to built the big extension you first considered. It is important to keep in mind the look and feel of your existing house. Try to match the most prominent features such as the roof of the house to the roof of the extension and try to use existing materials where possible to ensure a sense of continuity. It is important that you, in conjunction with your consultant, explore all possibilities available to you. After all, by choosing to construct an extension you are more than likely making a commitment to settling long-term in your house.

• Remember – You’re the Boss!

Throughout the project you may be forced to deal with a lot of various trades people and specialists. If you are not used to this environment it is important that you have a consultant who can guide you through this process. But don’t forget this is your home and your money. Don’t be afraid to make changes or question things. If you are not happy about something speak up, don’t rely on other people to propose changes, if you feel that the design can be improved upon, go for it. The worst thing that can happen is that you have regrets once the extension is completed. Take ownership of it. After all, if you surround yourself with the right team it can be a very rewarding experience.

Over the years I have lost count of the number of sites that I have viewed with clients that they have set their hearts on buying to build their dream home, only to tell them to find another site. This could be for many reasons, but the main ones are,

• Planning permission will not be able to be obtained.
• The site is too small to accommodate all of the required services
• The sight lines are not available
• Site failed a percolation test

When viewing a site with a vender or an estate agent it is important that you do whatever research is possible on the site and be armed with the right questions when viewing. Too often people just ask the basic questions when viewing a site, pay a deposit, then hire an architect or engineer to survey the site and apply for planning permission only to be told that planning cannot be obtained, much to the distress of the purchaser who at this stage would have lost out financially and wasted a lot of time.

First of all find out how the site is zoned.

I spoke about this a number of months ago, around the country areas are put into zones, these vary from urbanised areas, to strong agricultural. These zones set out the criteria that an applicant must meet so they can apply for planning permission. Some of the items could be that the applicant has to demonstrate that they are from the area, or demonstrate why they need to live in that area. This can be done through birth certs and work statements etc. if there is an old dwelling on the site in the first place check to see is it listed or of any historical importance to the council. If it has these conditions place on it you will be restricted what you can build. If the dwelling is not of any historic importance or is not listed then you can apply for planning permission to knock the dwelling and build a new dwelling. It has to be noted at this point that if you find a site with a house on it that can be knocked then the zoning issue does not apply to the site, in other words anybody can apply for planning permission with not meet the criteria as would normally be applied.

Check the site lines

One of the first things I do when viewing a site on behalf of an applicant is I go out onto the road and I check if there is an existing entrance to the site, if there is I measure the out 90 meters on either side to ensure that there is full visibility for any cars that may be coming out of the site. This will be one of the conditions that the council will impose on you. If there is not an existing entrance I look for the most suitable location for it. This is a common area that a lot of planning applications are refused, i.e. they don’t have the required sight lines. Many people are often left with the costly work of have to remove bends in the road to achieve the sight lines.

Is there site services.

Again it is important that you check if there is water on the site or drainage in the area. Many site in the countryside do not have any drainage so a site suitability test would have to be carried out, this is when an approved engineer come to the proposed site and carry out a series of drainage tests to ensure that the site can be adequately be drained. If the site fails this test then planning permission will not be granted. This is very common so it is important that any site that you’re considering purchasing has the potential to be able to take the required services.

The site.

When viewing a site items such as is it an elevated site, the orientation of the site, trees around you, overhead power lines etc will have a bearing on the type of house that you can build. If the site is elevated the council might not be in favour of you building a large two storey house at the top of the hill, or they may want you to hide it to a certain extent and plant large trees around it which could prove to be very costly. If you want to have your house facing in a certain direction on the site you will have to look at the neighbouring dwellings to see what direct they are facing, this will determine precedence in the area that you may have to adhere to. The same applies to the type of house that you want to build. As I mentioned before if you wish to build a large two storey house, but if there is only bungalows and dormers around you, it may prove very difficult to get the house that you want.

Future development.

When buying a site and building your dream home, it is one of the biggest undertakings that anyone can do. So you need to safe guard this. I would advise anybody who is serious about purchasing a site to check if there are any planning applications lodged with the council on neighbouring site this may lead to the potential of you being overlooked. You could go to your local county council office and check the county development plan to see what are the future plans that the council may have for the area, i.e. could there be any schools are shopping centres built beside you in the future etc.

Most of the above required information can easily be got from your local council office, but ensure that you know the correct questions to ask and the things to look out for.