Do you already have your dream home but it’s beginning to seem a little small for your lifestyle? Or perhaps your family is growing and you need more space. Whatever the reason, you may be thinking about extending your house but have no idea where to start.

Extending your home is going to involve a significant amount of work, time and cost. There are many factors to consider during the planning stages before you make any decisions but the end result is well worth it. Here are the key aspects that need to be considered before you begin:

Building Regulations

The most important first step is to find out if you need planning permission. If you do, then you’ll need to apply to your local council for this. Either way, an application for Building Regulations is essential. This is to ensure your project will adhere to all the necessary health and safety factors the law requires.

Site Insurance

In most cases, home insurance will not cover structural changes to the building. This means you’ll need to take out site insurance to cover against any unforeseen damages or accidents that occur while the renovation is taking place. If your builder has insurance, this is likely to extend to liability cover only.

Figure Out A Budget

This is crucial to make sure your home extension project falls within a budget you can afford. It’s wise to have an extra 10-20% to cover any unexpected costs too. Planning out a realistic budget can help you to make decisions on the size of the design, added features and so forth without spending more than you wanted to.

Find The Right Designer

You might have a rough idea of what you want but the designer is the person who takes that idea and shapes it into a reality. Finding the right person to work with is important to make sure your vision is taken on board and also to tell you what is and isn’t feasible. A good place to start would be to look locally for someone with good credibility or ask around for recommendations.

Building Control Approval

Once your plans are finalised and your design is ready you’ll need to submit either a building notice or a full plans application to building control before you can start. The latter is always the better option, despite the longer wait, as it means you have the peace of mind that your building project has been signed off and there are no issues with it.

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