Declaration de travaux

[Paulal]

We live in England and dont get to go across to our house very often yet. We want to turn a garage into a kitchen and were told by other English residents we didnt need permission to do this as the garage was part of the habitable space of our house, however, not wanting to tread on anyones toes and bearing in mind the power of the Mayor, we asked at the Mairie about this via e-mail. In the post two days later came the above form, no covering letter with it or anything. We dont have a clue how to fill this in and are not going to be able to get over to ask for help at the Mairie.
I know this has been covered previously in this forum but can anyone help with what we have to do, what goes where, how long it takes, is there a fee? etc.

any advice would be very much appreciated.

Paula

[val2]

Yes, you must have permission from the Mairie and one we are currently doing, has had to have the full permis de construire paperwork for it and that is only for changing the existing garage into a lounge with no upstairs. Unfortunately you must fill in your form and send it back, it is fairly self explainatary and you should also supply current photos of the property showing the garage now and even a little drawing of the proposed change with the different angles because of the windows and door inserts. Permission can take upto three months because most councils only meet monthly and during the months of July and August everything comes to a standstill anyway. Take no notice of what the neighbours say, regulations and rules change constantly, I know, I have a huge file of them and it is the council and the maire who make the final decision. Neighbours can have a hidden agenda because they don't want to be overlooked etc or are jealous of any work to improve the property.

[val2]

Sorry, forgot to mention that there are no fees. However once your paperwork goes into the system, your taxe d'habitation will rise to account for the extra living space and if you are in certain areas like the coast or national park, there may be a charge levied by the dept for the upkeep of the area. You will be informed by post with the relevent receipts of documents etc.

[Teamedup]

Yes you do. We had permission refused to extend our balcony and had to reduce our original plans and have been told that if we apply to get our loft converted there is absolutely no way that this will be allowed EVER!

I REALLY REALLY objected to an advisor on a british tv program telling a couple who were looking at a property in France that they could convert the garage into a room. The impression given that planning permission was not required, whereas it is.