House Extensions in Cottingham

East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Cottingham sits outside the Hull city boundary, so applications are determined under the East Riding local plan even though the town is close to the city. We submit through the Planning Portal and deal with the case officer directly.

It is consent from the water authority to build over or close to a public sewer or a shared lateral drain. It covers how the foundations protect the pipe and how access for maintenance is preserved. It is a separate consent from planning permission and from building regulations approval.

Lifting the covers on site is the fastest first check, and the direction of flow and the number of connections usually tell you whether the drain serves more than your house. A sewer records enquiry with the water authority confirms it. We do both before the footprint is settled.

Usually yes. The common answers are to deepen and bridge the foundation over the pipe, to divert it with consent, or to move the extension footprint clear of it. Which one works depends on the depth and size of the pipe, which is why the survey comes first.

It depends entirely on where in Cottingham you are. The older core is the kind of area likely to carry a designation, while the interwar and later housing around it generally does not. We check your specific address rather than assuming a rule for the whole town, because the difference changes what is permitted.

Not always. Many single storey rear extensions fall within permitted development, subject to limits on depth, height and eaves height, with more generous limits for detached houses than for attached ones. Rights are reduced on designated land and can be removed by a condition on the original permission.

Often, if the existing garage foundations and walls can carry the new floor and roof, which is checked rather than assumed because many garages were built to a lighter standard than the house. Where they cannot, underpinning or partial rebuilding is the usual answer and we would say so before you commit.

Permitted development caps the proportion of the original garden area that can be covered by buildings, which includes existing outbuildings as well as the new extension. On a generous plot this rarely bites. On a smaller one it can be the limit that decides the scheme rather than the depth.

It may. On shrinkable clay a mature tree close to the new work can require a significantly deeper foundation because of seasonal ground movement and root influence. Building control inspects the excavation before concrete is poured, so it is better to allow for the depth in the quote.

Yes. We serve party wall notices where the Act applies and we handle the correspondence with the council, including any neighbour comments raised during consultation. Most neighbours consent in writing once they can see what is proposed and when the noisy stretch will be.

Yes. The architect who designs your extension oversees the build, which is unusual and is the point of the practice. The detail that was drawn is the detail that gets constructed, and the build cost quoted at the start is the one we stick to.

For a single storey rear extension, weeks rather than months, and the messiest part is the groundworks at the beginning. A two storey or over-garage scheme runs longer because of the roof and the internal work. We give you a programme with the quote rather than after the start.