Plans get uprooted

Creating your own premises

Using a psychiatrist’s new premises as a case study, over a series of four articles, Maurice Citron presents a diary of a clinic build. He sketches out some of the important issues and processes you will need to consider if you decide to acquire, develop and trade from your own clinical property.

An artist’s impression of the rear extension at Esher Groves

My first article last month considered some of the issues practitioners could expect to encounter when they acquire a property for development. Now let’s look at the planning and preliminary stages of a project.

The planning system

Your development is likely to require one or more planning consents. This may involve a change of use, consent to extend, refurbish or convert.

The planning system in the UK can be contentious and there are, at any one time, a plethora of vested interests in each planning application.