Fuller Long have assisted our client in achieving Planning Permission for the expansion of four studio flats and a single storey side extension  for a property in West London.

The original scheme submitted by our client sought planning permission to refurbish and extend the first and second floor of the property in Shepherd’s Bush. However, the scheme was refused by Hammersmith & Fulham Council on the grounds that the extension was too large and would affect the unity of the surrounding properties as well as the adjacent conservation areas.

The scheme also failed to provide adequate standards of living for the two new flats that would be created as part of the extension, therefore failing to comply with Policy BE1 of the Core Strategy (2011) and Policies DM G3 and DM G7 of the Development Management Local Plan (2013).

Liaising with the architect team, we undertook an initial desktop study of a revised scheme, involving a single storey side extension and an addition to the roof, providing a seating area and the refurbishment and expansion of the four existing flats.

Within our initial advice, we confirmed that although the revised scheme significantly reduced the size of the extension, the property was viewed by the Council as framing the entrance of the conservation area to which it sat adjacent to, and so, the design of the scheme was essential to gaining planning permission. Our advice also stressed the necessity of showing how any extension in this location integrated with the existing building and did not harm the significance of the conservation area. We also encouraged our client to engage with the Council as part of its pre-application service to highlight the lack of objections to the proposal from the Appeal Inspector.

In providing well informed advice to our client, they were able to produce an acceptable development that led to the betterment of the existing four flats, the surrounding properties and complied with the aesthetics of the surrounding conservation area, subsequently gaining planning permission for the forthcoming works.

If you are a developer or landowner in need of planning advice. Fuller Long are here to help devise the best strategy needed for you to achieve what your development requires. Our consultants can produce a desk top study to help advise you of all the information you need in order to make the right decision for your construction project. Call 0808 164 1288 or email hello@fullerlong.com to speak with one of our Consultants today.