Bungalows
The 1930s was the heyday of the bungalow. In many parts of the country, you can see row upon row of dismal one-storey homes that nobody in their right minds would want to live in today.
However, bungalows now have a new use – as land. Because of tough planning restrictions on new builds and the scarcity of land, more and more people are buying bungalows with the intention of knocking them down completely and building a brand new house in their place or even several new houses. Many bungalows, although they may be horrible in themselves, are on prime plots in wonderful positions.
If a bungalow was poorly built, as a lot were, being little better than a prefabricated unit that came in kit form, there may be little sense in trying to modernize it. It may be better to demolish it and start again.
Planning permission
In theory, it should be easier to obtain planning permission for a house where there was already one standing than to build on an empty plot. However, as ever, it is vital to check with the local council as to what sort of new homes might be allowed and what restrictions there are on construction, height, size and so on. Some councils do not allow any significant increase in floor area, so you may have to build up, which would make your new home stand out from the other bungalows in the row. For this reason, some councils will require you to replace the existing bungalow with a ‘bungalow-like’ building so that it fits in with its surroundings.
Where planning permission is required, as it always will be with projects like these, neighbours might well object. One Bungalow Bill, Tony Addinall, wanted to knock down a tatty but large bungalow on a half-acre plot in Surrey and in its place build two large, detached, two-storey houses. He received outline planning permission in advance of the purchase and assumed all was fine, but, before work began, a neighbour wrote a 70-page letter to the council to express concern about the proximity of the projected new houses to his own dwelling. The council took the neighbour’s objections seriously and planning permission was refused.
Tony had not reckoned on this and had to appeal and re-appeal. By the time he eventually obtained permission, he had incurred significant expenses. Although he had originally planned to live in one of the new houses himself, he could no longer bear to contemplate living there following all the fuss.
Neighbours who have happily lived in their bungalows for many years often do not take kindly to an outsider wanting to knock a neighbouring bungalow down to build a much bigger, two-storey house in its place. They are even less likely to be enthusiastic about a mini-housing estate being squashed in next to them. It is prudent to discuss your plans with them and get them on side as much as possible in the planning stages.
Financing the build
When buying a bungalow or, indeed, any other property with the intention of knocking it down and starting it again, you have to make sure that all the right financial arrangements are in place. As with any self-build project, financing it may well mean that you have to have quite a lot of capital yourself. It can also be difficult to find a lender that will allow demolition. The Ecology Building Society, for instance, will not fund the replacement of already viable buildings.
Then there is the question of tax. If you leave some of the existing house in place, the project will most probably count as a restoration rather than a self-build and so will attract tax. As all self-build projects are incredibly expensive, it is vital to do all the research into planning, finance and possible neighbour objections before shelling out huge sums on the bungalow.
To give an idea of the kind of sums involved with self-build projects, here are some figures from Homebuilding and Renovation magazine.
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