If you are not moving house for the purpose of geographical relocation, however, then it could be extremely advantageous to you both financially and organizationally to re-design or improve your home instead of committing to a big move.

There are countless ways to re-design and innovate your living spaces. The services that we provide here at Premier Lofts include:

• Loft Conversions
• Ground Floor Extensions
• Kitchen Extensions
• Shower Rooms
• Bungalow Extensions
• Victorian House Extensions
• Loft Installations
• Attic Conversions
• Dormer Loft Conversion
• Mansard Loft Conversion
• Hip to Gable Loft Conversion

Personalisation

A huge benefit of improving your home over moving into a new one is that you get to personalise it however you wish, as long as you have the planning permission to make the changes. There is no reason why you cannot move house and then do this, it just means that you will be spending a lot of money at once.

A redesign of your kitchen, bathroom or bedroom may be all you need to better align your home with yourself and your tastes. Convert your loft or basement into a stylish office to enable a new home working environment or perhaps create a knock-through to brighten up your home.

Personalisation does not start and end with colour schemes and furnishings; we can go as far as changing the architecture of our homes to suit our unique tastes and sensibilities. Consider, perhaps, installing larger windows into your home, or building a balcony or veranda if space permits.

If you need help to re-envision the look of your current home, consider enlisting the help of an architect or an interior designer. Remember that, so long as you are acting within the remits of building regulations, your space is yours to play with.

You Love Your Current Location

You may be unhappy with your house itself, but largely unwilling to leave the area in which it is based. Perhaps you live conveniently close to work or your children’s school, or you have brilliant neighbours and surrounding businesses that you’d hate to leave behind.

Instead of changing your location, why not change your home?

Save on Moving Costs

Let’s face it: moving house is an expensive and stressful endeavour. There’s a plethora of paperwork to be done, you have to move all of your belongings from one home to the other (with removal costs), and you have to pay stamp duty again.

There are also hefty upfront deposits that have to be made if you are moving house which can be seriously detrimental to your financials if you have not forecasted appropriately.

You won’t only be saving money on refraining from moving house, you’ll also be saving yourself a lot of time and stress.

Increase the Equity in your Home

Property renovation is a brilliant way in which you can make money from your home in the long run. By renovating or improving, not only do you create a better living space for yourself and your family, but you also serve to increase the equity in your home, meaning that if and when you do come to sell it, you will be able to sell it for more.

Types of renovation that tend to add the most value to homes include:

• Loft conversions
• Basement conversions
• Home extensions

Generally, wherever you are renovating by adding space to your home, you are increasing its value. Other value-adding renovations involve modernising and bettering the design of rooms, such as with kitchen, bathroom and bedroom remodelling.

Ultimately, when you come to decide whether to move or to improve, your decision will rest on a number of factors, including where your current home is situated, how much potential for improving your current home has, and what your budget allows for. If it is both financially feasible and geographically advantageous to move house, that may be the best option for you. There is, however, significant value in doing-up the home that you intend to sell if you do decide to move. The equity that is released in the sale will often be well worth the investment you make.

The post Why to Home Improve Rather Than Move appeared first on Premier Lofts.

Also, planning permission is not the only type of regulation that you must adhere to when making changes to your home. We will run you through the necessary considerations to make before getting a loft conversion.

What is Planning Permission?

To broach this subject in detail, we have dedicated a whole post to outlining what planning permission refers to and how to apply for planning permission.

Put shortly, however, planning permission is what the local authorities must grant when new buildings or significant changes to existing buildings are made in their area.

There are many factors that authorities must consider when granting for planning permission, including whether the structure is a listed building, whether the proposed changes will look out of place or ununiform in that area, and whether the plans comply with building regulations.

If the following conditions are fulfilled, you should not need planning permission for a loft conversion:

• The total area of the additional space won’t exceed 40 cubic metres for terraced houses or 50 cubic metres for detached or semi-detached houses (this allowance includes not only any extra space you create with this loft but also any previous additions that have been made, such as an extension);
• The extension does not reach beyond the outermost part of the existing roof slope at the front of the house;
• The extension does not go higher than the highest part of the roof;
• Materials are similar in appearance to the existing house;
• There are no verandas, balconies or raised platforms;
• Side-facing windows are obscure-glazed (ie frosted or patterned to stop people seeing in);
• Side-facing window openings are 1.7m or more above the floor;
• Your house is not on designated land, namely national parks, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, the Broads, conservation areas and World Heritage sites;
• Roof extensions, other than hip-to-gable ones, are set back as far as practicable, at least 20cm from the original eaves;
• The roof enlargement does not overhang the outer face of the wall of the original house.

How Do I Find Out if I Need Planning Permission?

The government advises that you must always check to ensure whether or not you will need approval to construct or change a building in any way. To find out if your project will need planning permission, you can contact your local planning authority (LPA).

Do I Need Planning Permission For Airspace Development?

No, you do not require planning permission for airspace development as per the passing of a law relating to this in August 2020. (Source: KP Finance)

Airspace development allows property owners to extend upwards on their properties and this is very sought after and exciting for those buildings in very dense and populated areas such as the centre of London.

Property owners are required to have:

• At least 3 storeys above ground level
• Each new storey is more than 3 metres in height
• The overall development does not extend over 30 metres in total height
• Any extensions back or front do not exceed 7 metres in height compared to the highest part of the existing roof

Despite no planning permissions, one has to consider various factors such as those tenants currently living in the building and those surrounding the property. Making sure that you do not affect the sunlight of neighbours is key and also checking the legal feasibility of what you area doing to ensure no issues down the line. Read more about planning permission for Right to Light.

What Happens if I Need Planning Permission for my Loft Conversion?

If your desired changes do not comply with the above restrictions on loft conversions, then the first thing you will need to do is to apply for planning permission. This can be done by visiting the UK planning portal.

Applications can be filled out online using this tool; there is no need to deal with any complicated physical forms or documents. You will be asked to fill out some of your general details including your name and the address of the home you are wishing to work on.

If your request for planning permission is denied, you may wish to consider making some changes to the scope of your loft conversion to in order to fit the requirements. If this is not possible, you may also appeal the refusal using the planning portal. Ultimately, if no permission is granted after you have taken these steps, then the project cannot continue.

What Happens if I Don’t Comply?

If you make changes on a building that is not in compliance with UK building regulations, then you may be subject to prosecution and penalty. Your local government may enforce that you pay for such changes to be undone.

Further, if you then wish to sell your home, you will not have been granted the required certificates of compliance regarding your loft conversion, disabling you from making a legitimate sale.

The post Do I Need Planning Permission for a Loft Conversion? appeared first on Premier Lofts.

Upgrade Your Windows

The ultimate key to letting light into your house is through your windows. Whilst many modern houses now have giant windows or even whole-wall windows, a glass-house is not the right aesthetic for all homes, even if it is a sure-fire way to let in natural light. As an alternative, you might consider extending your windows slightly or adding windows to your home in the areas that catch the light the most. Velux windows are a popular means by which to brighten-up the home, bringing in heaps of light upon your home through the roof. Add windows to the roof as part of your light-altering loft conversion, or to the roof of your home extension.

Paint to Perfection

The colour of your interior plays a huge part in the brightness of your home. As expected, lighter colours tend to create brighter homes. White walls are a surefire way to optimise brightness, but you do not necessarily have to jeopardise your colour preferences in the name of brightness. As a rule of thumb, paler shades tend to maximise both natural and superficial light because of their light-reflecting properties.

If you want to brighten your home but are a fan of less-subdued colours, consider adding a feature wall. Feature walls are also a brilliant way of deciphering the colour-scheme of a room when it comes to furniture and accessories and can add a modern touch to the home.

De-Clutter Your Home

Oftentimes the architectural structure of our home, when taken alone, is brilliant at letting in natural light, but we prohibit it from doing so by over-filling spaces with our belongings. This is an inevitable scenario for many, who in the wake of one of our most troubling housing crises in history, have very little space to work with, particularly in London and other southern cities. There are, however, many ways in which we can create newfound space in our homes and thereby let some more light in.

• Kick the hoarding habit
• Throw out or sell unwanted items 
• Invest in better storage methods
• Re-shuffle your furniture 

Learning how to throw away unwanted or unused items is a fundamental aspect of having a tidier, brighter home. If you haven’t used an item in more than six months’ time, it usually means it is time to be rid of it (unless it is a seasonal item such as a fan heater or a garden chair set). Finding new and inventive ways to store items (such as with drawers that go under large furniture items) is a great way to de-clutter your home. After all, a spacious home is a brighter home. It may be the case that the way your furniture is currently arranged is blocking-out potentially light-emitting areas, such as floor lamps and windows. Re-shuffle your items such that windows are fully visible and any superficial light is able to be carried throughout the home.

Create a Knock-Through

Removing a wall in the home can do wonders to create a brighter space. By creating a knock-through, you are enlargening the area as well as consequently adding further windows to the room (if the space you knock through to has windows of its own).

Open-plan or semi open-plan homes tend to be brighter as they bring in light from more than one direction.If a room has windows that are both east and west facing, for example, the room will be able to see the rays of the morning and the evening sun.

Light It Up

The better the lighting, the brighter the home. If you don’t have the resources to create more natural lighting in your house, then a quick-fix is to optmise your artificial light. Overhead lighting is most effective, but can sometimes be rather glaring or clinical. Opt for overhead lighting with a dimmer switch and invest in standing lamps that will simultaneously add style to your rooms. Fairy lights can also be a beautiful way of banishing the blackness and creating a certain ambiance in a room. Remember to get energy saving light bulbs to avoid putting the environment at risk as a part of your endeavour towards a brighter home.

The post How to Brighten-Up Your Home appeared first on Premier Lofts.

What is the Purpose of Your Conversion?

If you have decided to get a loft conversion, it is likely that you already have an idea as to what you are going to use the new-found space for. Some do, however, take the opportunity to convert their attic spaces before having any concrete ideas as to what they will do with the room created. For those of you among us, here are some ideas as to what you can do with your loft conversion, some classic and some creative.

You may use your loft to create:

• A spare bedroom
• A nursery
• A playroom
• An office
• A workshop
• A home cinema
• A luxury bathroom
• An extra living room
• A gym
• A library
• A games room
• An extra dining area
• An indoor garden

Decide on a Colour Scheme

The first rule of interior design is to decide on a colour scheme for the room that you will keep to. The colour scheme need not be limiting or boring, but it is imperative that the items you end up buying for your space somewhat compliment one another, be it subtly or blatantly. Popular tones today are neutrals as they allow for colourful accents and relaxing, subdued areas. This loft conversion uses greys to create a tranquil living area and bedroom:

The exposed brick wall at the focal end of the room adds a stylish and rustic note to the overall look and feel of the space which is, for the most part, neat and luxurious. Chandeliers are beautiful fixtures to choose if you wish for your room to boast royalty and splendour.

Identify your Statement Piece

The statement piece of any space is the item that is noticed first and that most clearly ‘defines’ the room. Most rooms will have some sort of statement piece, whether it be a piece of furniture such as a bed or a sofa, an appliance such as a fridge or a stove, or even a decorative rug or bed-cover.

This sleek, angular bathtub is the clear statement piece of this minimalist converted bathroom. The visible floral arrangement in the window adds an important homely touch to this clean and spacious design. The dark brick wall also allows for textural variety, breaking away from the homogeneity of the smooth marble floor and ceramic tub.

Optimise Comfort

Contrary to popular belief, interior design is not all about looking good. A happy home is a comfortable home, after all. When it comes to living spaces, especially in the UK, it is not worth putting style over snugness. That is not to say, however, that you can’t have both. When it comes to purchasing things like sofas, armchairs, and mattresses, ensure that you comfort-test them before investing. When buying online, make sure to thoroughly read reviews submitted by other buyers with a focus on their comfort evaluations.

Other things you can get in order to make your loft conversion more comfortable and stylish include:

• Rugs and carpets
• Cushions
• Blankets and throws
• Beanbags
• A recliner
• A chaise-longue
• A futon
• A day-bed
• A window seat

Add Some Greenery

Make sure to spruce up your new loft conversion with some plants. Big or small, floral or not; plants have a unique way of truly bringing your home to life. Even the addition of just one tiny succulent amongst your belongings can work wonders for your home. If you are not blessed with green fingers, plants such as cacti, aloe vera, succulents and orchids are extremely low-maintenance and difficult to kill. If you prefer larger plants, consider getting a bonsai tree or an indoor fern to add some healthy, leafy greens to your loft conversion.

This loft conversion is full to the brim with gorgeous feature plants and leafy greens, truly bringing the space to life. This many plants may be quite the commitment when it comes to maintenance, but the payoff is a lovely, breathable room.

At Premier Lofts, we offer first-class loft conversion services, amongst many others. For more information on what we can do for you, visit us here.

The post Interior Design Ideas for Your Loft appeared first on Premier Lofts.