Extensions and remodelling
An extension, a loft room or a new layout can often give you a good deal more space. We design each one to sit comfortably with the houses around yours.
Dore · Sheffield
Planning consultants in Dore
If you are thinking of extending your home in Dore, reworking it, or building on a generous plot, you will want to know early on what is realistic here. Dore’s stone houses, old lanes and moorland edge give it a character worth designing around, and your project will go more smoothly for starting there.
With your address in hand, we can usually say whether the conservation area or the Green Belt applies to your home, and what that would mean for your plans. From there, our planners and architects share the work on your project, so the design and the planning argument for it are built as one.
Key contact
Richard Pigott
Managing Director – Chartered Town Planner
How we can help
Planning and design for homes in Dore
Your plans for a home in Dore will usually fit one of the four kinds of project below. For each of them we can take on the design and the planning application together, so the two are shaped for you from the start.
Architecture and new homes
If you are thinking about a new or replacement house, we will first tell you whether the plot can take one. If it can, we will design a home that feels at ease among its neighbours.
Conservation area schemes
Where your home falls inside the conservation area, we help you settle materials and detail early, so the Council can see how your plans respect the older village.
Green Belt and moor edge
If your plot meets the Green Belt or sits close to the National Park, we will advise you carefully on what is possible and who will decide your application.
Local context
Planning in Dore
You may be hoping to extend a family house, rework a layout that no longer suits you, or build a new home on a larger plot. Whichever it is, any project in Dore begins with the same question: how will the change sit alongside the stone houses and lanes around it? It is where we like to start with you, because the answer shapes everything from the footprint of an extension to the materials it is built in.
In the older part of the village that question matters a little more, because a conservation area covers it. Being inside it does not stop you extending or improving your home. Some work you could otherwise carry out without permission will need an application, though, and the Council will pay close attention to materials and detail. We find it helps to settle those choices at the sketch stage, so your application arrives with the answers already in it.
If your garden in Dore is a generous one, you may have wondered whether it could take a new house. The answer turns on the character of the road and on your neighbours as much as on the size of the plot. We look at the whole picture with you first, so you can decide whether the idea is worth taking further.
On the moorland side of the village, the view of your home from the open land can matter as much as the view from the road. Wherever your house is in Dore, we will help you understand what shapes your plans before any design is settled. We would be glad to talk them through with you whenever you are ready.
Conservation area in the older village
The older heart of Dore lies within a conservation area, where some changes that would otherwise be permitted development need an application. It calls for more care with materials and detail rather than an end to your plans, and we can check whether your home is affected.
Green Belt towards the moors
Land on the moorland side of Dore can fall within the Green Belt, where the rules on new building are tighter. Extending or replacing an existing home can still be acceptable there, and we will let you know early on which route is open to you.
The National Park beyond the village
Further west, the moors lie within the Peak District National Park, where the Peak District National Park Authority decides applications rather than Sheffield City Council. Where a site sits near the edge of the park, we will confirm with you which authority is responsible before your application is prepared.
RIBA
RTPI
IHBC
ARB
Common questions
Planning questions about homes in Dore
Is my house in the Dore conservation area?
The conservation area covers the older heart of the village, and the surest way to know whether your house is inside it is to check the exact address. We can do that for you and talk through what being inside it would change for your plans.
Could I build a new house in my garden?
The Council will judge a new house in a garden on how it sits on the road and how it affects your neighbours’ privacy, light and outlook. It will also want to see that access and trees can be handled well. We can look at your plot with you and tell you how promising it is before any money goes on design.
My garden backs onto the moors. Does that change things?
Land on the moorland side of Dore can be Green Belt, and further out the Peak District National Park has its own planning authority. Both bring tighter control over new building, though you can often still achieve a well-judged extension. We will confirm what applies to your site and what that leaves open to you.
What will the Council look for in an extension here?
The Council will want your extension to respect your house and the street. That usually means a sensible scale, materials that suit the buildings around you, and care for your neighbours’ light and privacy. In the conservation area it will look more closely at detail. We design with all of this in mind, so your application shows the thought behind it.
How long will it take to get a decision?
For a householder application, Sheffield City Council has eight weeks to make its decision once the application has been validated. Much of the time that matters comes before that, in design and preparation, and we will set out a timetable with you before work begins.
Find us
Our nearest office
Planning & Design Practice — Sheffield
The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX
Sheffield and South Yorkshire
Planning authorities
Get started
Thinking about a project in Dore?
Do you have a house in Dore that needs more room, or a plot you keep wondering about? A few photographs and the address are usually enough for us to tell you, the same day, where your plans stand. There is no charge for your first conversation.