In short
Seven approval mistakes that recur on landed projects, each with the moment it should have been prevented: designing before the envelope is known, assuming the house next door is a precedent, inheriting unauthorised works, relying on drawings that no longer match the house, missing drainage and road reserves, trees and platform levels, amending the design after approval, and an optimistic programme. Approvals rarely fail on their merits; they fail because someone designed before checking.
1. Designing before confirming the envelope
The most common and most costly error. Owners fall for a design, become attached to it, and then discover the plot will not hold it. The redesign costs money, time and enthusiasm.
Avoid it with a feasibility study before any design work begins.
2. Treating the neighbour's house as a precedent
The house next door may have been built under different guidelines, approved under conditions no longer available, or include works that were never approved at all. It tells you nothing reliable about what you can build.
Avoid it by checking the guidelines that apply to your own plot with a qualified person.
4. Working from drawings that no longer match the house
For an A&A in particular, the submission rests on the existing drawings. Old plans that no longer match the house generate comments, revisions and delay.
Avoid it with a proper measured survey. It is inexpensive relative to what it prevents.
5. Missing the site constraints
- Drainage reserves along the boundaries.
- Road line reserves that reduce the developable area.
- Public sewers crossing the plot.
- Protected trees on the plot or the road reserve beside it.
- Minimum platform levels set by PUB, which can require the site to be raised.
Avoid it by walking the site with your qualified person, title and survey plans in hand, before design begins.
6. Changing the design after approval
An amendment needs a further submission and a further review. A change made late can cost months, and it usually arrives at the worst point in the programme.
Avoid it by resolving the brief before submission and freezing the design. Every amendment is a fresh queue; the clock does not carry over.
7. Building an optimistic programme
A programme that assumes first-time approval, no comments and no resubmission is a work of fiction. It creates pressure at exactly the wrong moment and leads to decisions made for speed rather than quality.
Avoid it by allowing properly for the approval chain within the three to six months of design and approvals, and treating anything faster as a bonus.
Key takeaways
- Confirm the envelope before anyone designs anything.
- A neighbour's house is not a precedent. Check the guidelines that apply to yours.
- Check for unauthorised works before you buy; the cost of fixing them is yours.
- Every amendment after approval is a fresh queue.
Questions people ask
They have to be regularised or removed, at the current owner's cost, and the project cannot proceed cleanly until they are. That is why the check belongs in due diligence before purchase.
