Building 1st floor extension over a communal drive If you want to know how your DIY projects could be affected by building and planning regulations, click here to post questions and view answers

[Doughnutman]

Hi, please can someone advise.

Our house is end of terrace. The terrace of houses all have an integrated garage to the rear. Next to us is a road where the land is owned by us but is stipulate on the deeds we must give access to the rest of the terrace in order to access the garages at the rear.

Our houses are extremely narrow and the road is over 1.5 times the width of our house. We were wondering if we would be able to build a 1st story extension over the road, I.e to create an arch or sorts so cars can still drive under but we get a decent sized 1st story on our house.

My questions are:

*Can we build above the road at all?

*Are there rules on how high up the 'access' I need to allocate to tje neighbours is applicable? My reasoning is that the garages are one story high so no other vehicles taller should be required to drive to the rear?

*If I need to put down a couple of vertical structural columns on very side of the road to support the end of the extension will that contravene access?

I dont necessarily expect answers but any idea where to look for guidance would be appreciated too.

Thanks all.

[stoneyboy]

Hi doughnutman,
Have a look at your deeds and see if there are any restrictions in them.
Draw a scale drawing of what you propose and consult your local planning authority - you may have to pay a fee.
If both these give you the green light submit full plans and talk to your local building regulations department about the detail.
Regards S