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10 SEP 2008 HOUSEHOLDERS TO BE ABLE TO CONVERT LOFTS AND EXTEND HOMES WITHOUT PLANNING PERMISSION

Householders will soon be able to convert their lofts and install rear extensions to their homes without having to seek planning permission. New planning rules to be introduced next month will remove as many as 80,000 householders from the planning system.

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22 JUNE 2008: GET CREATIVE WITH A LOFT CONVERSION

LOFT EXTENSIONS ARE INCREASINGLY POPULAR - WHICH MEANS THERE’S MORE SPACE TO GET INVENTIVE. Drive down any street - especially in London - at this time of year and you can see scaffolding bristling from the roof of many a Victorian or Edwardian terrace

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8 JANUARY 2008: TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT... ADDING VALUE TO YOUR HOUSE

The property market has come to a halt and we can no longer expect the price of our homes to rise month after month automatically. However, there are ways of boosting the value of your own home even through sluggish times, provided that you are careful and canny. Here are 10 things you need to know before you embark on a costly project:

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27 NOVEMBER 2007 PLANNING SHAKE-UP FOR LOFT CONVERSIONS

Ministers planning a shake-up of planning laws have eased the new rules for householders wanting to carry out loft conversions. The planning white paper, published in May, gave the go-ahead for bigger extensions at ground level, such as kitchens and conservatories, without planning permission.

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27 NOVEMBER 2007 PLANNING RETHINK WILL EASE NEW RESTRICTIONS ON LOFT CONVERSIONS

Home improvers will be able to build bigger loft conversions without planning permission from next year after a Government U-turn to be announced today.

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22 August 2007 ADDING VALUE TO YOUR HOME

Clients often ask me for advice on the best way to add significant value to their home. I always start by reminding my clients that the best way of increasing the value of their home is to do nothing but sit and wait. Over time, property goes up in value - and at more than the rate of inflation."...

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LOFT CONVERSIONS CAN ADD AROUND £100,000 TO A HOME’S VALUE

Homeowners who favour improving over moving can easily add around £100,000 to the value of their house, according to new findings by Alliance & Leicester Personal Loans.

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AN END TO LOFT CONVERSIONS ?

The Planning White Paper, unveiled a few weeks ago, was pitched as a sensible reform of the planning laws. It would, we were told, do away with planning permission for "minor developments" such as extensions and loft conversions.

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18 September 2002 HOMEOWNERS ARE INCREASINGLY OPTING TO DO HOME IMPROVEMENTS RATHER THAN MOVE HOUSE, RESEARCH CLAIMS TODAY.

Market analyst Datamonitor said the lowest loan rates since the Sixties plus popular DIY TV shows were driving a boom. During the first six months of 2002, it said, the number of home improvement planning applications rose 11 per cent.

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27 JAN 2007: THINK BIG, REAP THE REWARDS

Avoid the expense of moving by adding to your existing space. Caroline McGhie starts a series on the best ways to increase the value of your home In the new property market of 2007 - where interest rates are still low (despite recent rises), tax on house purchases high and the number of people moving relatively small - the smart thing to do is to add value to the property you have already.

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26 MAY 2006: LOFT OVERHAUL BOOSTS HOUSE PRICE

A loft conversion or having an extension built are two of the most effective ways to boost the value of a property, a survey has suggested On average, an extension adds 12% and a loft conversion 10.9% to a property's value, the Nationwide Building Society survey found.

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5 APRIL 2007: LOFT CONVERSIONS 'ADD £100K TO HOUSE PRICES'

Loft conversions could add £100,000 to the value of property, leaving homeowners in a win-win situation, new research indicates. Often paid for with personal loans, conversions could bring significant return on investment, the data from Alliance & Leicester Personal Loans suggests.

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27 July 2003: CONVERTS' DILEMMA ON ROAD TO HIGHER GROUND

Loft conversions have never been more popular. Sky high property prices and hefty stamp duties mean that moving to a house with an extra bedroom and bathroom can cost up to £100,000, while adding the same to your existing house by converting the loft can add up to just a quarter of that. If you do not have the cash, low interest rates mean adding to your mortgage may not feel too painful.

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5 DEC 2006: LOFT CONVERSIONS AND HOUSE EXTENSIONS TO BE PUT ON
FAST-TRACK

Homeowners would be able to build conservatories, kitchen extensions and loft conversions without planning permission under changes to planning laws proposed today.
The long-awaited report from Kate Barker, an economist who was commissioned by Gordon Brown to investigate how to ease the housing shortage, will recommend an overhaul of the current laws to speed up housing developments and infrastructure projects.

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3 AUGUST 2006: REPORT SAYS PLANNERS NEED TO QUIT THE LOFT CONVERSION CONVEYOR BELT

Planners are too risk-averse and process oriented, tending to spend more time and energy on loft conversions than meeting the challenge of positive planning for sustainable communities, according to a new report from the Town and Country Planning Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The Report, 'Permission to Plan', is the result of three roundtable discussions with planners, planning inspectors, environmentalists, architects, house-builders, government officials and lawyers.

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LOFT CONVERSION: CASE STUDY - LONDON

"There are two options to ensure that your building conforms to the relevant building regulations: submitting Full Plans for approval in advance, or doing the work By Notice. We chose to do it By Notice, which meant we didn't have to submit plans in advance but had regular on-the-spot meetings with the Building Control Officer who would approve the work as we did it

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4 June 2006 HOW ADDING ON ADDS UP IN THE END

Almost half of homeowners looking to trade up are struggling to afford the cost of moving and have opted to stay put and extend their property instead, according to research by mortgage lender Abbey.

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LOFT CONVERSIONS ARE TOPS FOR ADDING VALUE TO HOMES

Homeowners keen to increase the value of their property often undertake the wrong home improvements, according to research by GE Money Home Lending. In fact the top three modifications homeowners opted for - combined - would not increase the value of a home by as much as an estate agent's top choice - a loft conversion.

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6th OCTOMBER 2006 HOMEBUYERS EXTEND HOMES TO AVOID STAMP DUTY HIKE

Soaring numbers of homebuyers are extending their homes, not buying a bigger one, in a bid to avoid paying a massive stamp duty bill.
The tax paid by people when they buy a new home has more than doubled since Labour came to power to more than £1,800.

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29 AUGUST 2007 LOFT CONVERSIONS

Converting the loft is a popular and relatively low cost method of increasing the floor area of an existing property and increasing its value.

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