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I was working on the assumption that the ubiquity of conversions locally would mean that we be permitted to build something similar, and expect planning permission to be granted.
Not necessarily. A conservation area may have been introduced partly in response to people doing all sorts of unsightly conversions, with the legacy alterations left in place but no new ones permitted.
If you're in a conservation area, you'll usually be fine if you don't plan to have any windows or dormers out front. They tend to be permitted to the rear (a conservation area's main purpose is to preserve a coherent streetscape), but rules about dimensions and other aspects vary.
All that said, there are plans afoot to make residential extensions easier following concerted lobbying by certain groups, which judging by the way it's been reported so far will be a total disaster, but as far as I know nothing's happened about it yet, and I don't know how it will affect conservation areas, if at all. And you may well not be in one.
Oliver Schick-
Thanks for the info @Oliver Schick I will raise it with the architect and the surveyor.
Judging on what's going on round here at the moment, I would be surprised if we were in a conservation area. There's currently a block of flats being built on a tiny plot of land (an unused garden essentially) on the end of our victorian terrance. I have no idea how that got past LA planning.
Mishk
No, but I am reading about it now, thanks @Oliver Schick
I was working on the assumption that the ubiquity of conversions locally would mean that we be permitted to build something similar, and expect planning permission to be granted.
Or am I missing your point? :)