Hi cshaws. I would recommend a two stage approach. First, speak to your local district or borough councillor to establish whether they agree there is, in principle, a demand for what you propose. If so, you should move on to phase two and prepare a sketch scheme (or have someone draw one up) with which you can seek pre-application advice from the council.

You may have to pay a fee for a pre-application meeting, but it’s invaluable as it enables you to engage with planning officers at an early stage. This way, you can thrash out any issues around the layout and design of the houses and, perhaps, how your aspirations for their occupation might be secured.

Simply ringing up the planning department and asking what they think is unlikely to produce reliable advice. This sounds like the sort of initiative a council should jump at and even if the planning officers are less than enthusiastic, so I’d be surprised if your councillor didn’t get behind you and push officers to find ways forward.

Mike Dade, Build It magazine contributor and planning consultant