An open plan conversion joins rooms by taking out the walls between them and carrying the load on beams. It is a structural job with a kitchen, services and finishing job attached to it. We appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations and coordinate building control. In the Bishop's Stortford Conservation Area, part of the scheme may need planning permission before any of it starts.
The Article 4 direction reaches alteration of the house itself, where it faces the street
The householder direction withdraws Schedule 2 Part 1 Class A, the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse, on elevations or areas facing or visible from a highway, open space or waterway. Class A is the class covering alteration of the house itself.
The council's leaflet states the limit in plain words. With the exception of the controls on chimneys and flues, the new controls apply only to elevations or areas that are visible from the public realm, meaning the highway, waterways or public open spaces. The internal knock through and any new opening on a visible elevation are therefore two different consent questions inside one job.
A tight terrace decides the order the work has to be done in
It decides it because access, temporary support and dust control all depend on the frontage. The conservation area appraisal picks out the larger three storey terraces on Portland Road and the tightly knit Sidney Terrace, complete with street lighting fixed to the buildings.
In a house of that type the temporary support goes in before anything comes out, and it stays until the beam is bearing. We plan the delivery point, the carry route and the prop positions at survey. You are told which rooms are out of use and for how long, in writing, before the work starts.
Whether your house is covered is decided address by address
Schedule Two of the householder direction lists the affected properties by individual address rather than by whole street. The streets named in it include Windhill, Castle Street, Apton Road, Portland Road, Newtown Road, Grange Road, Hadham Road, Dunmow Road, Stansted Road and Warwick Road. Also named are Nursery Road, Trinity Street, Bells Hill, Church Street, South Street, Rye Street, Maze Green Road, Thornfield Road, Jervis Road, Bartholomew Road, Sidney Terrace, Crown Terrace, King Street, Market Square and Northgate End.
Being on one of those streets is not the same as being on the list, so the address gets checked rather than assumed. East Herts also operates a fee charging pre-application advice service for householders and developers, and prints 01279 655261 as the Bishop's Stortford planning contact number on its Article 4 leaflet. Where a scheme is finely balanced, that is the route to use before drawings are finalised.
- Openings formed in stages to keep the home usable
- Lighting, heating and electrical reconfiguration
- Level flooring and threshold removal across the whole space
- Making good, plastering and decorating the finished space
- Utility and boot room space carved out of the new layout
Trusted Open-Plan Conversions in Bishop's Stortford
An open plan conversion is several trades inside one programme, and the order is what protects the budget. We appoint the structural engineer, install the temporary support, take the wall out, set the beam, then run the electrics, heating and finishes into the new space. Building control applications and inspections are coordinated by us, so the opening is inspected while it is still open. You deal with one point of contact for the whole sequence rather than four trades with four diaries. GS Renovation Ltd is fully insured and registered in England, company number 14611254. Quotations are free and carry no obligation.
- Cooking smells and extraction planned into an open kitchen
- Heat loss and acoustics considered before the wall comes out
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder
- Photographs kept at each stage for your records
- Itemised pricing, so you can see what every stage costs