Any architects - really narrow plot?

[aprilfoolsbaby]

Or anyone with experience of self-building?

I have found a plot in a good area with permission to build a 3 bed, 3 bath house with integral garage. I've requested the plans from the estate agents so haven't seen them yet.

My question is about the plot. It's 90' long and only 21' wide which seems to me incredibly skinny. I'm no expert and the plans might be three storey or really long to balance out the house. So, does anyone know if this sounds feasible or ridiculous?
We'd probably seek to amend them as the whole point for me in building your own house is that you have some input into the design.
that I have no idea about this!

Normally the (i'm guessing outline) plans indicate - have you not had sight of them?

Most authorities have these online for current/ recent applications if you search the local .gov planning portal.

21' is fairly narrow - that is it's frontage right?

How about parking? is it off street & do you have enough (normally 2 parking spaces for 3 bed)

TBH it seems quite a small plot for such a big house

My Back garden is 85 ft long and I would struggle to fit a house (that I would want to live in) in it & it is 50 ft wide

Thanks ANT. I know plans have been passed, but I just wondered if anyone had any experience with such plots. Is that particularly narrow for a house?

Off to check council website.

X posts with KatyMac.
Looking at the rest of the street, there'd be a drive and you could park in front of your house.

Maybe an imaginative architect could do something interesting with it.

It depends where you are but 21' would be an unbelievably wide plot in London (a substantial Victorian terrace house is generally about 16' wide). A lot of the self-build magazines (Homebuilding & Renovating etc) feature stories of people who have built on awkward plots - not that I think this one qualifies for that - and any decent architect would be able to work very easily with 21' so look what the current plans allow for and then discuss with an architect. I'm very .

I've no experience but our first house (a large 3 bed) was only 18ft from front to back and was deemed to be a big room. So it all depends on the room layout.

So about 6.4m wide.

Am guessing that that would involve a townhouse style property. Garage and some living space on ground floor. Other accommodation on first and second floors.

The depth is OK. OUr council has minimum standard of 10m rear garden. So am guessing your's would be over that.

OUr council would expect, in a detached house, a minimum of 1m side space to be retained for the full height of either flank elevation to the boundary (unless one side is directly onto a protected open space or vehicular accessway for example.

There may be scope for internal re-jigging, but with a plot of that width I would expect there to be some difficulty with increasing the footprint of the house, though that does depend on what's next door.

OUr 4 bed semi (in suburban london) is not much wider than 21ft I would say. Doesn't seem cripplingly narrow.

This is the sort of thing that you could fit as three storey with integral garage: www.bellway.co.uk/tabid/144/hs/1f857cec-0d9e-49c5-a9e6-96ccd7ee521b/Default.aspx

It's about the maintenance bit either side

Say 3ft 3 either side & you are down to 14ft 6" so one maximum dimension in any room would be (assuming a 10 inch wall) 12ft 10"

So I would assume that you wouldn't have a hall

A Tesco space is about 10 ft wide - so with car park spaces either side there wouldn't be room for a path - so they would have to be front & back - which would take about 35 ft of length or a garage on the ground floor

Thanks you guys for the responses. Have just checked on the council website and the plot has has the following applications:
Jan 2005 - Erection of two storey end of terrace building comprising two self contained flats (one ground floor and one first floor).
Dec 2005 - Proposed dwelling house with detached garage and parking area
Jan 2009 - Renewal Of Planning Permission for Proposed Dwelling House With Detached Garage And Parking Area

Does this mean that the permission has lapsed and they have applied to renew it?

Yes outline permission will have expired. There should be some document links within the permission. Sometimes it takes a while to find. You might have to go back to the dec 2005 ones. Whats approved is usually on the outline documentation in the title bar i.e. two storey building, dormer bungalow etc

This is obviously way out of date but my husband has been able o get planning to build a 3 bed house on a plot not much bigger than a double garage. It s 2 1/2 stories with a possible basement (if we an afford it)

Ooh, good luck crazycatlady. Where is it (I am pathetically interested in these things)?

It's in the west end of glasgow. Anything else please don't hesitate to ask. There is still a chance we can't afford to build it so if it goes on the open market at any point I'll pm you the link.

It was a real 'labour of love' for DH and I as its a 3 bed mews down a wee lane.

We had a battle with the planners until the main objector retired then it went straight through

I would love to build it for so many reasons but it just may not be possible.

The basement (I think I'm right in saying) wouldn't require planning but would give a decent 3rd bedroom (its big enough for a baby's room/study at present) and additional storage but is expensive to achieve.

xx

I'm a long way from Glasgow - but keep posting about it. When do you think you'll begin work? I'd love to build my own place but a plot went on the market around the corner during the summer, I rushed home to look up the price when I saw the for sale board and it was... 3.25 million for an overlooked triangle of land which you have to go down a track to get to. I don't think self-building in London is an option for anyone but oligarchs .

Haha! True!

www.linearchitecture.net/Projects%20and%20previous.htm

I think I said my husband is an architect. That's his website above.

6a in north down (northern Ireland) is his parents house. That was completed last year.

The glasgow mews is the one we want to build. I would love to but if we can't afford it we have spoken about a few options but one is a trossachs/Perthshire holiday home (1-2hrs from glasgow) and a city centre house for during the week.

It's exciting but all still feels very dream like. I think if we sell the land to be built by someone else or build it ourselves (which I would prefer) it will all start to seem more real.

xxx

Oooh, I like it, you must build it. Honestly, you've got the land, the design and the planning consent, the only thing that can go wrong is the windows are delayed on the build (I watch a lot of Grand Designs, I know how these things work ).