Magic me enough height for a loft conversion

[rachelfrost]

So, so boring but so, so important. I’m hoping someone has had a similar problem and has some ideas. Here goes:

We bought a house with planning permission for a loft conversion BUT at its highest point the ceiling is only 2m. The room planned for the loft will be my son’s bedroom and he is going to be a giant (definitely over 2m). It’s in both green belt and conservation area so unlikely to be able to raise the ridge height (make the building taller) any further if we re-apply for planning permission.

Any suggestions other than stopping feeding my son so he stops growing? We thought slightly wider dormers might give a little more room. I hoped we could put some money into making the floor or roof insulation thinner but that doesn’t seem to be an option.

Is so frustrating, if only we could raise the roof by 20cm.

Have you actually checked with a Planning Officer about the possibility of a small increase in roof height?

We're in a similar situation - we're lowering the ceiling of the first floor (i.e. the floor of the loft) by about 20 cm. It's a bit of an extra hassle but we're building under permitted development - i.e. without planning permission - so definitely don't have the option of extending upwards.
It is worth double checking about increasing your roof height though. I bumped into someone who works at the RIBA recently who mentioned they're relaxing the rules on extending upwards to try and help with the housing crisis.

Why is it so essential for your son to have that particular room? Can he not have another room and you use the loft as an office or craft space or tv den etc?

Hi guys, Thanks for the replies.

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo
Yes, I’ve met with a planning officer, two architectural technicians and three architects. None of them are hopeful about us getting a higher ridge height. We might well resubmit asking for more but it’s pretty strict as we’re a hideous bungalow surrounded by listed buildings.

@JonnyPocketRocket
Really low ceilings down stairs... at least it will match upstairs.

@AthollPlace
We don’t have enough rooms so it needs to be a bedroom. The downstairs bedroom is bigger so me and my partner are going to have it as there’s two of us.

We are both raising the ridge 25cm and lowering ceiling below. But we are not in a conservation area, there is precedent for raised ridge on our road and our ceilings below are high.
But if yours is a bungalow and others on the road are taller you may stand a chance? Especially if your bungalow is different in look to the listed buildings around it. Can you argue 20cm won't fundamentally change the look of it? The ones on my road went through as planning officer conceded you'd hardly see the difference

Can you create a nice unit in the loft for both of you with maybe a separate/en-suite bathroom?

Is he really going to be over 6' 6"? Slightly irrelevant if the majority of the space is sloping ceilings. I'd go with the other suggestions and find out if raising the ridge is possible. Also look at dormer window across the back which is level with the maximum ridge height as that opens up the room a lot (I've got 2 attic bedrooms).

Thanks for your answers. I spend so much time thinking about the loft, it’s nice to have some outside input.

@Blue5238
So our building is a blemish in a super pretty area and the planning department just don’t want it any bigger. There’s a very small chance that if we radically changed the style of the building we might get permission for more height but it’s hard to see how to do it (what style would the planning department like) and also expensive. The surrounding buildings are taller but they’re also hundreds of years older...

@HidingFromDD
Yeah, my son is a good 1’6” taller than his classmates and his dad is 6’6” so I’m thinking he’ll be TALL. The dormer windows being level with the ridge height is a good idea. We could also try and make them a little wider in the resubmitted plans.