For anyone who wants to know more about commercial conversion, what is prior approval, the advantages of prior approval and risks you should avoid this episode is for you. Listen to Peter Jones as he interviews experienced solicitor and chartered surveyor, David Kemp.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

Commercial Conversions: This is the ultimate course on converting the commercial property to residential. 

What is prior approval? Prior approval is a bit of a fast track process, so instead of having to go through the very long elongated process of planning permission, it's a bit of a fast track. So it removes a lot of the obstacles to it and it's sort of a legal lead process with a bit of planning policy in between and because it's a bit like permitted development. 

What are the advantages of prior approval? It takes most of the politics out of the process. So what you'll find is a lot of counsellors that can’t call in these applications because under the internal rules of every local council, they have what's called a scheme of delegation and sometimes if it's politically controversial, they don't like losing offices for instance, then counsellors try to call these things and they can't do that with prior approval. Prior approval is a much more straightforward route, it's a bit more technical and also it has a set period to be decided, in that applications have to be determined within 56 days or eight weeks and if they're not, then in pretty much all cases, if not most cases of what's called prior approval in the law, you get planning permission straightaway for the change of usage.  

It's only for a change of use. There are a few exceptions around the law where you can have external alterations included, and you get that with agricultural prior approval from an agricultural building to residential, but most of it is to do with a change of use. So if you need to make external alterations to a buildings windows, doors, roof slope etc that sort of thing, then you have to apply for the Planning Commission separately for that. 

Risks leading to you not getting prior approval. There are different prior approval, so there are offices to residential, there's agricultural to residential and so on so forth. You've got four risks under office to residential.   

• You've got noise. The premise that is to be converted from offices to residential must be in a location free of noise for you to get that approval. 
• You’ve got ground contamination. Some offices, particularly in rural areas, are built on former agricultural land so there may be pesticides and so the offices must be in a location which is not contaminated. 
• Traffic and parking. There should be ample parking lots for the total units in the premise. Sometimes before you're going to acquire a site, it's worth having a parking consultant as part of your power team. 
• Flood risk. There are two types of flooding that we tend to look at and that surface water flooding and also flooding from rivers and seas. The offices must be in a location that does not flood for you to get that approval from the council. 

Instead of prior approval, when would you use planning? You need planning permission when you are erecting a new building or you're changing use. So whenever you fall into those two categories, you're going to need planning permission. 

BEST MOMENTS 

• “So if you need to make external alterations to building it will have to like Windows, doors, change the roof slope, that sort of thing, then you have to apply the Planning Commission separately for that.” 
• “If there's something like an office building and you want to turn it to residential, basically the local authority can't stop you.” 
• “Wherever the air is more rarefied, there is an obvious opportunity there to steal a match on your competitors and pick up a site for pretty good value and to be able to do something with it.” 
• “Just use what's there, don't get clever.” 

• “The bigger the development, the bigger the mistake.” 
• “Choose one thing, get good at it, try and systemize it and control your time on it.” 

VALUABLE RESOURCES 

• Website: www.thepropertyteacher.co.uk  

ABOUT THE GUEST 

David Kemp is a barrister, he is also a solicitor and he is also a chartered surveyor. He's got a lot of experience in planning and has done a lot with local authorities. He was a senior or principal planning lawyer for about 10 different councils. David has also done property education. He has worked with a lot of people in commercial conversion. 

CONTACT METHOD 

• Email: [email protected]  
• Facebook: David Kemp

ABOUT THE HOST 

Peter Jones is a Chartered Surveyor, an author and a serial buy-to-let property investor. He has been involved in property for over 35 years and now owns 78 letting units. He is still actively involved in buying and renovating the property, and regularly flips properties for profit. Peter has written a number of successful property books. The first, An Insider’s Guide to Successful Property Investing, was first published in 2000 and was one, if not the very first, the book of its kind which was written for what we'd now call buy-to-let investors. 

On the back of its success, he was invited to be a guest writer for Property Secrets and wrote Spanish Property Secrets, French Property Secrets, and Portugal Property Secrets. He has since written a number of other successful titles dealing with UK investing including 63 Common Defects in Investment Property and How to Spot Them, the highly acclaimed The Successful Property Investor’s Strategy Workshop and The Property Renovator’s Workshop, in which Peter describes step-by-step how he built his own property portfolio, starting with virtually none of his own money. 

CONTACT METHOD 

http://www.thepropertyteacher.co.uk/  

http://progressiveproperty.co.uk/   

progressive, property, investing, rent, housing, buy to lets, serviced accomodation, block, auction, home, financial freedom, recurring income, tax, mortgage, assets: http://progressiveproperty.co.uk/