New Build Houses - Pretoria Road, Plaistow E16

Replacement of a Victorian factory and workshop yard with two family houses. Our client approached us with this site, which he had purchased with planning permission already granted, but upon us taking over the project we realised that there were multiple issues which meant that the houses could not actually be built. The footprint of the houses were simply too large for the plot, and also the height and levels for the proposed buildings did not work, and also the loft rooms were not viable. A complete re-design and re-application for planning permission was required, which we undertook and ultimately rectified the issues, and in the process we managed to gain some additional floor space by extending out deeper at the rear and enlarging the lofts. There were also come complex issues which the client had not foreseen or budgeted for, relating to the party wall act, onerous planning conditions, severely contaminated land, existing utilities and public sewer issues, and very poor ground conditions which would require driven pile foundations. As always, Humphreys and Sons took ownership of the entire project and the broad scope of technical matters, complete re-design of the project, gained all necessary permissions and resolve all technical issues. Our client was extremely relieved and grateful that we managed to get the project back on track, and despite all of the issues the project was still just about viable, and actually turned out to be a great success. We stressed again to our client the importance of always consulting with us before purchasing development sites, so we can advise on potential issues such as these, and their cost implications.

Client Testimonial

“After buying this site with planning permission we very soon realised that it had just about everything wrong with it possible, which was all unforeseeable at purchasing stage but still a real blow to the project, and we considered not going ahead with the build. Humphreys and Sons really saved the day for us with their broad experience and knowledge, and they knew exactly what to do to overcome all of the issues, meaning we could relax and let them take charge of everything, rather than running around to an array of different consultants etc. We will definitely be working with them again and wouldn't trust anybody else to run one of our projects.”

Henry Osborn - City of London Estates Ltd