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Ask the architect… about Permitted Development


What is Permitted Development?

Permitted development is a specific part of Planning Law. Under certain circumstances, it allows construction work to be undertaken without an application for planning permission. Certain categories of minor or insignificant development are granted an automatic planning permission by law. If your project is one of these, you can cut out a sometimes lengthy and costly planning application and approval process.

What sort of projects does it cover?

Permitted Development applies to some things that you might not even think need anyone’s approval – like putting up a television aerial. Most commonly, it affects people who want to do building work at their own house. That often means an extension, but also garage conversions and even changing the external appearance of a house, perhaps with new windows or render.

That sounds quite straightforward… isn’t it?

Sadly, it’s not. The concept of permitted development was introduced when Planning Permission was first enshrined in UK law, in 1948. The government created the policy in its current form in 1995, as a definitive guide to what was allowed and what wasn’t. Then they had to bring in several iterations of technical documents to tell local councils how to interpret these rules as they had been implementing them differently. This goes to show how complex these ‘simple’ rules can be!

When does it apply?

The Government Planning portal carries a long list of circumstances – with many caveats and exclusions and with further reference to a very technical document.

For example, you may be able to build under permitted development if you are not covering more than a certain proportion of the land around your house with new build, if the building is not visible from the road, if the building is limited in height and depth… But sometimes, houses can have permitted development rights removed under a planning condition at the time they were built. Or they may be modified by other conditions or building statuses. It’s a pretty complicated area.

Are there any particular issues to look out for?

In my experience, there are often grey areas relating to positions of boundaries – what is the front and what is the side? How close to the boundary are the proposals?

Also, complexities arise when the house has previously been extended and elements of permitted development have therefore been used up.

There are also changes to permitted development if you live in a conservation area or another specially identified planning zone. This tends to restrict what you can do. In a conservation area, for example, you can’t change the walls to render without applying for formal planning permission, whereas in other areas this would be permitted development.

It’s a minefield! How can I find out if my project meets the requirements?

You can confirm it by applying for a Certificate of Lawfulness from the local council planning department. It’s often a good thing to do even if permitted development rights are likely to apply, because if you sell your house in the future, your buyer’s solicitor will probably want confirmation. Applying for a Certificate of Lawfulness after the extension has been built costs twice as much as doing it before!

Don’t tell me… I should ask an architect!

Even for architects, the permitted development rules are complex and there can be differences of opinion in how to interpret them for a project. But an experienced architect with good local knowledge can give you a much clearer idea of how likely your works are to comply. I’m always happy to give my expert opinion and help you navigate your way through the regulations.

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