As your project will be unique to you, our fees will vary depending on the size and complexity of your project and the services that you require. Our prices are fixed and Tailored to your needs give us a call for a free quotation. We have three ways of charging our fees, which are as follows, * A flat rate, we can do this once we have established the amount of work involved * A percentage of the estimated overall project cost, this is for larger/ more complex projects. * As an hourly rate for very small projects, this is used where the complexity of the work does not correlate to the size of the project, and/ or the amount of work involved can not be reasonably estimated at the start of the project For most clients your home is your biggest single investment. and our fees are small in comparison to the overall cost. When you reflect upon the cost of employing us and the value we can bring to your project, you will find that our fees by far outweigh the ‘so-called’ benefits of undertaking a project without the guidance of a professional designer.

How long is a piece of string? It all depends On the size and complexity of your project, usually domestic projects take 4-8 weeks once registered If the application is refused then there is no limit on the length of time to go through an appeals process. AH Architecture has a very high success rate of obtaining planning consent. we provide our clients a fast and efficient design service to a very high standard give us a call to discuss your project to get a more accurate time frame.

At an initial consultation we will visit your property and meet with you to discuss in detail your requirements. We take time to understand the brief that you have in terms of the space requirements, the style of design you envisage and your budget for the works. The more information you can give us, the better we can understand your brief. We will explain the design process, the statutory applications needed for your particular project and the building process. We will also agree with you which of our services you require. Following the consultation we will prepare a detailed quotation for your consideration.

Yes.

For peace of mind I recommend that you get a Certificate of Lawfulness for any work such as extensions or conversions that do not need planning permission. In order to get a certificate of lawfulness you will need a set of existing and proposed drawings etc which must be submitted to the council with a fee of £86. The council checks the drawings of what you intend to build and if they agree that you do not need planning permission they will issue you a certificate of lawfulness. This year alone we have had to submit several retrospective planning applications for clients that built without getting planning permission or a certificate of lawfulness. Building without planning permission or lawful development is like refusing to pay £1.50 per hour for parking only to be landed with a £60 parking ticket fine.

If you live in a house you have lawful development rights, if you live in a flat you do not have lawful development rights. Having lawful development rights means that there are certain developments that you can carry out without getting planning permission, such as loft conversions of a recommended size, ground floor extensions of a recommended depth and height etc please check with your planning departments for more information.