Architect-Led Design and Build in Withernsea

Yes. We work throughout Holderness, including Withernsea, Hornsea, Hedon and the villages in between, and we group site visits so the coast gets a proper day rather than a rushed hour. The survey visit is always booked before design work starts.

We do not publish figures, because a number quoted without seeing the property is a guess and usually a low one. What we will do is test the cost against your design while it can still change, and give you one build price we hold to. That is more useful than a range you cannot rely on.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council, working to the East Riding Local Plan. Householder applications are normally determined within eight weeks of validation. We prepare the submission to their validation standard and deal with the case officer through to the decision.

Often, yes, and the plot sizes around Withernsea help. The thing to watch is daylight. Extending a bungalow to the rear pushes the existing rooms away from any window, so the design has to bring light back into the middle of the plan or the new space costs you the old space.

It affects what materials will last. Salt in the air and driven rain shorten the life of render, external timber and cheap ironmongery. We specify for exposure at the drawing stage. Since we also build the project, a poor specification costs us as well, which tends to concentrate the mind.

Converting a garage into a habitable room is often permitted development if you are not enlarging the building and the property has not had those rights removed. Building regulations approval is a separate matter and you will need it, particularly for insulation, damp proofing, ventilation and any new opening.

The decision notice sets out the reasons, and those reasons are the route back. Most refusals object to a specific element rather than the principle, so an amended scheme addressing those points can be resubmitted. There is normally no additional council fee for one resubmission within twelve months.

At the key construction stages, and the schedule is agreed before work starts. On a straightforward extension that is a handful of visits covering the foundations, the structure, the wall build-up before it is closed up, and completion. You get notes and photographs from each visit.

We can produce a design and a full drawing set for someone else to build, but understand that you then take back the risk of the gap between the two. Our whole approach is built on the same practice carrying both, and that is where the price certainty comes from.

Usually yes, and they test different things. Planning is about land use and visual impact. Building regulations are about structure, insulation, drainage, fire safety and ventilation. A scheme can hold planning permission and still fail building control, which is why we run both.

On a standard rear extension, usually not. On anything unusual, anything close to a boundary, or a site where a neighbouring scheme has already been refused, it is money well spent. We will tell you which of those you are in rather than charging for the enquiry as a matter of routine.

Usually within a couple of weeks, and faster if we already have a visit booked in Holderness. Tell us the address and roughly what you have in mind and we will give you a date rather than a vague promise to be in touch.