Moving entrance of the house from side to the front

[Bujjikanna123]

Hello,
We have recently purchased a house and haven't thought about the problems we will face while buying..Its a semi detached house , so the entrance of the house is to the side where the semi detachment is and it is very narrow.. We are struggling every day to get the buggy in. How easy is it to move the entrance to the front.. I think if it is possible I need planning permission and a big hole to my pocket..

We walk through the side walk and the entrance door is to the right and if we continue walking there is garden door which leads to the garden.So basically anyone can jump from the garden door and wil be inside the garden, so safety is also a major issue.So if changing door is not feasible , is there any alternate to make this secure.Please advice , I am in deep stress with all this and with a 11 month old my brain is not functioning very well.Thanks everyone..

It would depend on whether there are any planning restrictions on development at the front of your house. Our side door is fine, as there is a whole drive beside it (not wide enough for a modern car, mind!) but we are not allowed to develop or change the front of the house, at all.

ohh k, we don't have much space to the side apart from 1 person walking at a time :( thats why we couldnt even get the buggy in..All others in our street seem to have entrance to the front. Does this mean the council will say ok if we apply for planning permission?

Here's a link to a thread with someone with the same issue.

It looks as though Planning is not required(unless you live in listed building) just Building Control regs HTH

www.diynot.com/diy/threads/planning-permission-moving-entry-door-and-stairs.445558/

If you post photos and/or a floorplan, people might be able to help more. I'm not sure what you are saying about the garden entrance, is it the gate is too low? If you were to move the front door to the front of the house, what room would you enter into? How would this impact your space?

You could ask your neighbours if their houses were built like that, or if they altered them to have the door at the front, if they have, they might be able to give you a few pointers. I'm curious. If it's so narrow, how on earth did you get your furniture in?

Yeh, we had to open the front bay window to get the furniture in..

I will add the pics, yh the garden door is too low.If i change the entrance to the front, i will be in living room as soon as I open the front door...

Thank you, it is very useful..

Whats a garden door? Do you mean gate?

Extending to the side might be easiest. You could create a hallway/porch which would also block garden access.

Yeh by garden door i meant garden gate

@RubberTreePlant , yeh thats an idea we have but we may have to speak to the neighbour as well..

I have moved my door to the front (because I think a front door should be at the front, IYSWIM). I also had a porch added. Planning permission was not needed because the area of the porch is less than 3 square metres (I’m not in a conservation area, it might be different if you are).
I don’t think I would have done it if it meant I went straight into the living room though - is your living room big enough to put up some stud walls to make an inner hallway/porch area?