💡 Don't move, Improve (AL it)
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Certified lawful by Milton Keynes City Council, no planning committee, no objections. Don't move. Improve (AL it).
From a 9.8m² Kitchen to a 36m² Family Hub: a Bletchley Home Reworked Without Moving
Project facts bar
Location
Bletchley, Milton Keynes (MK3)
Project type
Single-storey rear extension · garage conversion · porch extension
Services provided
LIDAR measured survey · architectural design · Lawful Development Certificate application · structural design · building regulations drawings · building control coordination
Council & outcome
Milton Keynes City Council — Lawful Development Certificate granted (ref PLN/2026/0955)
Kitchen area
9.82m² → 36.31m²
Garage
24.84m² storage → habitable guest room
Timeline
Validated 11 May 2026 → certified 30 June 2026 (7 weeks)
Estimated value added
[CONFIRM: range, or omit this row]
The story
The situation
The family had outgrown the house, not the street. They liked their neighbours, the school run worked, and moving meant stamp duty, agent fees and legal costs before they gained a single square metre. Inside, a 9.82m² galley kitchen did the work of cooking, homework and family life, cut off from the lounge next door by a solid wall. The garage held boxes rather than a car — 24.84m² of the footprint doing almost nothing. Upstairs, the bedrooms shared one bathroom. They wanted more house, and they wanted it soon.
don't move, improve.
The challenge
Speed was the real constraint. A full planning application risked months of consultation, neighbour objections and a committee decision that could go either way — and this family wanted to be building, not waiting. The alternative was to design strictly within permitted development, the work a homeowner can carry out without full planning permission. That meant every dimension had to sit inside Class A limits from the first sketch, with no room for approximation. Removing the wall between kitchen and lounge also introduced a structural question that had to be resolved before anything could be certified.
The solution & result
We scanned the house with LIDAR before drawing a line, so every dimension came from the building as built rather than an assumption. The scheme was designed inside permitted development limits, then submitted for a Lawful Development Certificate — asking the council to confirm in writing that no planning permission was needed. A steel beam carried the load where the dividing wall came out, opening the kitchen and lounge into one 36.31m² kitchen-dining space lit by new rooflights. The garage became a guest room with a proper window. Milton Keynes City Council certified the scheme on 30 June 2026, seven weeks after validation. Architectural, structural and building regulations drawings were produced in-house, and we introduced the family to a private building control inspector to carry the build through to sign-off.
The evidence
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