Holiday Home Design
During a very recent family holiday on Lanzarote, I was prompted to think about the differing standards of both the apartment we were then staying in (with the really lovely view below of the Charco San Gines) and various other homes we had previously rented on the island.
Generally we choose not to stay ‘in resort’, opting instead for small villages or the city of Arrecife, where ‘the people’ work, live and genuinely seem to enjoy life. For us it’s more authentic, although our 17 year old kids may have a different view!
We usually opt for smaller homes, always looking for owners that seem to care for their properties and guests (we ran holiday homes here in Norfolk for over 10 years, so are a little fussy). There is though usually a compromise.
If the owners are fab, then those compromises can stem right back to the DESIGN and PLANNING stage…
The latest apartment for example, with the great view, 14 meter balcony and perfect location had these niggles, totally unnecessarily in our humble opinion:
We had a spacious open plan kitchen, diner, sitting room with French doors. YET just two double plug sockets, one behind the TV and one in the kitchen! Try straightening your hair from the kitchen, on tiptoes, legs in the splits position and neck craned to see into the mirror 3 meters away on the wall! Also attempt the charging of 4 mobile devices, an ipad and 3 laptops (children studying A Levels), whilst boiling the kettle and whisking up fresh pancakes for four, need I go on… Easily solved at the DESIGN & PLANNING stage.
The second bedroom was a dark, V shaped room, with two single beds and no option for a second ‘couple’, yet in the open plan living area was a section at least 2m by 2.5m that was unusable and had been infilled by a random table that you couldn’t put chairs around. Why was this not in the bedroom? Easily solved at the DESIGN & PLANNING stage.
After that I could go on about a utility/boot room only accessible from the far side of the bathroom but won’t stretch your participation with this blog too far…
You get the gist of it.
If you are building a second home in Norfolk, for your own use and potentially for paying guests, or if you are buying a home and intend to use it for holiday letting, think about how your clients will move about in and use the place, at the DESIGN and PLANNING stage. It may just help your lettings and increase repeat bookings…
We are seeing an increasing percentage of our work come from both homeowners and local property developers who are making internal changes to second homes in Norfolk. We’re drawing plans for those alterations and they are being passed to builders to price from and to Building Control if Building Regulations are needed.
Other clients are adding Floor Plans produced by us to their own websites for prospective guests information prior to booking.
Much of the time planning permission is not required for internal work, (this changes with Listed Buildings). Permitted development rights may cover your work, but if not, a Householder Planning Application fee to the local authority will be £206, with a £20 Planning Portal service charge. Building Regulations will most likely be relevant.
Do get in touch to discuss your needs, we cover Norfolk and can schedule an onsite chat to speak in person.