jodyflorian

Hiya,

I'm considering doing a self-build. Just a small property. I've heard different stories so am asking here -

I'm looking to build an eco home for myself and am interested in bypassing as much bureaucracy as possible. I've heard some vague statements that there are situations where you don't need any kind of planning permission - I was hoping someone could point me to specific kinds of developments that would not require any approval, architects, etc etc?

Thanks

Jody

val50

Hi Jody
welcome to the forum
best person to speak to is your Mairie, they will have all the details you need regarding building regulations in your area.

Ka Ora!

The least permits required building is a garden shed Maximun of 20 Sq Mtr. Anything else is going to involve a lot of paper work you don't need to use an architect on buildings that are less than 170 Sq Mtrs total surface, but they still require consent. And they now Rip Down house's that don't have consent.

http://poitoucharentes.angloinfo.com...nningforms.asp

jodyflorian

Ah well that's good news, at least it's just paperwork and not architect expenses. Thanks for the information, it's exactly what I needed to know!

Ka Ora!

Buy a wig because you will lose a lot of your hair.....Filed in Triplicate signed with blood but written in sweat. And at the end you will wish you were cast in stone

But it's all good fun.

Ka Ora!

I forgot to mention and it's important, you will have to pay for a structural Engineer to go over your plans and Green light it. Your will have to supply Before and After 3d images even if it's under 170 Sq Mtrs so it will still have to be designed in a Cad program, By someone that have half a clue. But good luck

pandas

Hi Jody
I am looking to do exactly the same! which area are you looking at?

sandy

jodyflorian

Hi Sandy,

I was hoping either near the Pyrenees or failing that, somewhere in the mountainous regions between Toulouse and Lyon. Thankfully that's a large area so stand a good chance of finding a plot best suited...

Ka Ora!

The average price for a building plot with a CU Certificat d’urbanisme, is around 35,000 to 50,000 Euro's and this will not necessarily give you much land. It is possible to find cheaper ones but these will be in areas that people dont want them. It just seems to be the average in the Midi Pyrenees region. We are trying to get a CU on a piece of land that we have.

jodyflorian

What kind of land is it that people don't seem to want? It must be useful to some people

Ka Ora!

In France land that is defined as Agricultural you will not get any permission to build on. The system is very different to the UK. Here you need a CU before you can consider anything think of it as outlying planning permission. Most areas every four year have a Urbanization Plan when this is drawn up CU are given were they would like to see house's built. They are given to people even if they have not asked for one. The Maries and the DDE are now very calculated on were things get built because a change was made a few years ago and it is now the Maries responsibility to get Electricity to all homes and the home owners responsibility to get Tarmac to the home should they wish it, it used to be the other way around.

Once you have your CU, you then draw up plans run them by a structural engineer if it's under 170 Sq Mtrs and then you submit them to the Maries and the DDE, they get passed on to the Police, Highways dept, Fireservice, and the ABF Architectes des Bâtiments de France. Possibly if all the info is OK in 4 to 8 months you might get permission.

If it over the 170 Sq Mtrs then It all has to be done by an Architect otherwise no one will touch it. There is talk of the 170Sq Mtrs Limit being removed so all building work goes through an Architect however you could still draw the plans in princple and get one to run over them and put his name against it. Once you have the permission you can lose the Architect as they are not needed throughout the building phase.

And 170 Sq Mtrs does not make a very big house that figure includes corridors and is to the outside of the walls so be careful if you are thinking of using Straw bale walls.

But the CU is the key without it you only have a field of grass or mud.

jodyflorian

Wow thanks for the detailed information, Ka Ora, it sounds complicated so I'll have to digest it over time!

Regarding having a plan, there must be some available on the internet? There must be quite a few, and even if not approved for use in France it would remove the expense of coming up with a design, and would just need to be approved by a French architect?

Ka Ora!

There are off the shelf plans on the internet but you will find that these are tailored to the American market and the properties would look some what out of place in France. And because of that your application would be turned down.

Your options are buy and learn to use Archicad very expense and heavy learning curve, Or pick one of the lightweight home design cad programs and start putting your own plans together. This is were you will find out why Architects get paid a lot they understand the Flow of space and were all the wires and pipes behind the walls go and what they do. You will not eliminate the need for before and after 3d views as these give the Marie and the DDE some kind of idea as to the impact that the building will have.

There are also a quite few environmental friendly house building companies in Germany that may just sell the plans and offer advice but i suspect that their knowledge will come at a price.