Clacton-on-Sea offers building stock that supports airspace work at different scales, from Edwardian and Victorian terraces near the seafront through to post-war bungalows and 1960s flats across the wider town. Streets around the High Street and Pier Avenue carry older mid-rise blocks where rooftop schemes occasionally come forward. Further inland, through Great Clacton and Little Clacton, the work shifts to bungalow conversions and side-and-up extensions on semis and detached homes. The town's flat topography and coastal position mean some height proposals attract closer planning scrutiny than equivalent inland sites.
Our Essex team covers Clacton-on-Sea alongside Walton-on-the-Naze, Frinton, and the wider Tendring District. The practice is RICS regulated, and rights of light assessments often run alongside the planning submission for schemes that add height in dense parts of town.
As well as providing daylight, sunlight and rights of light advice, our role would be to make contact with the occupants of the existing building to establish any concerns regarding the development. We will work closely with the professional team to identify the initial questions and look at how these can be addressed.
It is our experience that maintaining the same point of contact for the duration of the project offers the existing occupants’ reassurance and continuity.
On a homeowner project in Great Clacton or Holland-on-Sea, the focus is the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, rights of light risk on adjoining homes, and protection of the existing structure during construction. Notices need to be served on every adjoining owner where a party wall is involved before work can begin.
On rooftop additions to seafront and town-centre blocks, the work centres on the existing occupants below. We make initial contact with each leaseholder, attend meetings to discuss concerns, record Schedules of Condition for the flats directly under the new units, and act as the named point of contact through the build. Day-to-day matters, scaffolding, deliveries, parking, access, get handled as they arise, with airspace development advice covering the wider planning and feasibility picture.
Airspace schemes in Clacton-on-Sea typically sit alongside daylight and sunlight, rights of light, and party wall workstreams on the same site. The same surveyor stays on the project from instruction to handover.
Over the past four years, CHP have worked very successfully with us in their capacity as party wall surveyors. Through his calm, sensible approach and excellent communication skills James Crowley, in particular, gained the trust and confidence of the entire team and stakeholders. Looking forward to working with CHP again.”
- Clare Goggin, Jackson Coles
The relationship with the existing occupants below is where most airspace project risk sits. They live with the noise, the dust, the loss of parking and access, and the worry about damage to their flats. Without a named surveyor handling that relationship, those concerns escalate into complaints and claims that drag the project's programme out.
Strong liaison and a thorough Schedule of Condition deal with most of this before it starts. Residents have one named contact to raise concerns with, the developer has a structured process for handling them, and the Schedule provides documented evidence if a damage claim is later made. Planning sits with Tendring District Council, and party wall services typically run alongside the airspace work itself.
Get in touch.
Head Office
2-6 Boundary Row
London, SE1 8HP
Essex Office
2-6 Boundary Row
London, SE1 8HP
020 3714 4090
Get in touch.
Head Office
2-6 Boundary Row
London, SE1 8HP
Essex Office
2nd Floor, 10 High Street
Wickford, Essex
SS12 9AZ
020 3714 4090
enquiries@chpsurveyors.com
