UK Balconies : Client versus Planners

[Roger Evans]

I wonder if many of you have similar problems

A lot of my clients would like balconies either as part of their extensions & remodelling or as part of their new build.
Unfortunately local planners raise objections to this on grounds of privacy invasion to adjoining properties ~ the fact that you have the same views from windows overlooking neighbours gardens is ignored by the planners.

Many Victorian Edwardian Georgian buildings have balconies.
I would also like to provide balconies ~ they help improve a design in my opinion.

I wonder how successful any of you are in overcoming these objections
especially in the UK.

Cheers

Roger

[Paul P.]

Roger, we have never realy had a problem with this round here (North West), their more concerned with the safety aspect of it i.e. children being able to climb up on them.

[beegee]

Its also a concern to many Australian planners.

They require "privacy screens" in situations where the bacony is deemed to affect a neighbours privacy or potential privacy. This includes any balcony within ,9m at first floor level, of a nearby building. It also includes windows, where the plan angle between any two windows is less than 45° for a for a distance of 9m.

Theres no way around it, its written into the codes.

[Roger Evans]

Paul

children being able to climb up on them.

My normal approach is to specify vertical balusters or solid fill
Then the little monsters go & drag a chair to stand on

Beegee
It seems similar to UK which may be the result of too much international cooperation between Planners. Won't be long before we all have the same codes it seems. All seems pretty stupid to me when everyone is up in arms (planners included) if their Holiday apartment doesn't have a balcony with a view.

Roger

[Paul P.]

Roger, that is exactly what we do but any time they see balconies on planning drawings they automatically think of the safety aspect. They never raise the question of privacy invasion.

[funkman]

I am so tired of Council requesting privacy screens. I fear we are fast becoming a nation of houses with privacy screens littering the facades of decent architecture. Does anyone believe they actually work, especially when 50% void?

[PeterJ]

In the north-west London Local Authorities with which I do battle, (sorry typo slipped through I meant to write "liaise in a positive fashion with a view to a mutually beneficial outcome"), the number of contract planners on sabbatical from SA and the Antipodes suggests that we really are working on a programme of international cooperation in that field. The bigger problem is not the issue of balconies but their lack of familiarity with local matters and their absolute adherence to 'guidelines' as 'policy'. One Council that I deal with spends £100k a month on contract staff in its Planning and Building Control departments which is clearly crazy.

As for balconies, yeah, hereabouts they tend to be a bit of a no-no, the logic being that while you can see no more of your neighbour sunbathing topless from a balcony than from a bedroom window they will suffer a perceived loss of privacy.

[Roger Evans]

Peter

the logic being that while you can see no more of your neighbour sunbathing topless from a balcony than from a bedroom window they will suffer a perceived loss of privacy.

That would be Mavis Duckworthy again right? ~ I know her mother

Perhaps we should advocate privacy screens around Newsagents shelves.

[PeterJ]

It does seem a flawed argument, I agree. It is explained to me as follows....

Privacy is an amenity and the parts of planning policy that pertain to residential development/extensions seeks to maintain amenity for existing properties. Any perveived loss of privacy is a real loss of amenity as it reduces one's opportunity to enjoy one's property.

[Roger Evans]

Yeah its all down to perception

In reality I find balconies are rarely used & enjoyed by the owner to any great extent

Locally of those houses that have them ~ well the only time I see them being used is for painting / general maintenance Whereas their desirability as properties is extremely high

[Martin P]

We seem to get away with them up here? probably because they are more of a feature on the building than something that wiil get much use (brrrrrr......) :lol: