There are about 10,000 conservation areas in England. These are regions of special architectural or historic interest, such as country houses, fishing and mining villages, and model housing estates. Local planning authorities have a duty to preserve and maintain their unique character and appearance.
If you live in a conservation area and want to build a new garage, you need to apply for planning permission. This involves getting familiar with the paperwork involved and dealing with your local planning authority to obtain permission to build an outbuilding on your property. For a fee, you can employ an architect or consultant to fill in the paperwork and submit your request - this will save you some time and a potential rejection.
At the time of submission, you will need to provide a location plan and a site plan. These show the area surrounding your proposed garage and the outbuilding itself in detail.
The best way to ensure your application is successful, is to propose a building that fits in well with the conversation area you live in. An oak framed garage may well be the ideal solution. In this article, we look at why a timber garage is exceptionally suitable to properties located in conservation areas.
Before we start, it seems sensible to clear up the elephant in the room - the building most people think of an an oak framed garage is actually a carriage house (sometimes called cart barn). When we discuss oak framed garages in this article we are referring to a carriage house as in the picture below.
A timber garage perfectly matches the charm of a rural area, as well as that of a historic town. Wood has a natural look, which blends very well with its surroundings. This allows a wooden outbuilding to look as if it always belonged to the landscape it is built in.
An oak garage will look superb in the driveway of a historic or period home. Outbuildings have been built out of wood for thousands of years, so a timber garage with a classic car in it will suit your property extremely well.
Oak is a slow growing timber and there is a balance to be found between aesthetics, longevity, cost and the environment. For this reason at Chart Garages our carriage houses uses oak front supports only which are seen and take the weather but pressure treated internal timbers. The oak fronted hybrid style is to our mind the best of both worlds and gives you a long lasting stunning carriage house that, with minimal care last decades. Oak is an optional upgrade to Chester
Once you submit your planning application, your neighbours will have access to your plans, so they can review them and offer comments. Because the look of a timber garage is timeless, the people living nearby will likely not raise complaints about the design of the outbuilding itself. Furthermore, objections due to loss of view or negative effects on the value of the surrounding properties won’t be considered.
Below we offer some tips for a successful planning application. Please don’t rely solely on these - read the information reported on the Planning Portal carefully and hire help, if necessary.
It is a good idea to call up your local planning authority and discuss your project before submitting your application - they will likely offer advice to amend your plans to give you a better chance of success. Some authorities require payment for this service, while others do not.
Bear in mind that the decision process for applications takes time - most are processed in about 8 weeks. So try to plan everything well in advance. Allow three to five months for your project to be completed, depending on the amount of groundwork you need to carry out before installation.
If your application is accepted, make sure to check if there are any special conditions attached to it, which you need to comply with. If it is rejected, you can submit an amended application at no extra cost. Should you deem the decision unreasonable, you can appeal it through the Planning Inspectorate.
Once you have obtained planning permission for your oak framed garage, you have a maximum of three years to start building it. After this amount of time, you will need to submit a new application. If you sell the house before the three years are over, the planning permission remains valid until the deadline.
