Planning & Permissions
152 sources in the library on planning & permissions, 40 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 1 of 4.
- very strong RN-81EIUN cited
GOV.UK
The government's own list of alterations that need building regulations approval, and the page to cite when a reader asks whether a bathroom or kitchen refit is notifiable. Works listed as needing approval include installing a bathroom that will involve plumbing, changing electrics near a bath or shower, replacing a fuse box and connected electrics, replacing windows and doors, replacing roof coverings, installing or replacing a heating system, adding radiators to an existing heating system, and installing fixed air conditioning. Emergency repairs to a boiler or heating system do not need approval in advance, though specific rules then apply. Approval may be obtained from a local authority building control department, a private registered building control approver, or, for higher-risk residential buildings, the Building Safety Regulator. The page states the practical consequence bluntly: without approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you want to sell your home. Note that a like-for-like bathroom refit with no new plumbing, no drainage change and no work in the electrical zones is not on the list.
Cited in Replace Shower Pan Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Replacing Windows: Process, FENSA & Cost.
- very strong RN-Y8BU6C cited
GOV.UK (Planning Inspectorate)
Explains that an applicant, or someone acting on their behalf, can appeal where planning permission is refused, where it is granted subject to conditions that are unnecessary, unenforceable, vague, unreasonable or irrelevant, or where the local planning authority has not decided the application within 8 weeks (13 weeks for major projects such as 10 or more dwellings). An appellant who believes the authority behaved unreasonably and cost them money can apply for an award of costs.
- very strong RN-C5NIIB cited
GOV.UK API catalogue
The GOV.UK API catalogue entry for Historic England's conservation areas dataset. Useful because it is a gov.uk host carrying the headline count that Historic England's own pages state but that block scripted fetches: there are around 10,000 conservation areas in England, every local authority in England has at least one, and most conservation areas are designated by the council as local planning authority. Describes designation as managing and protecting the special architectural and historic interest of a place. A workable citation for the 'around 10,000 conservation areas' figure when historicengland.org.uk returns 403 to WebFetch and to browser-UA curl, and when the Wayback copy of the Heritage Counts indicator page is also unavailable.
Cited in Conservation Area Rules for Homeowners.
- very strong RN-M7OUL6 cited
HM Land Registry
The government's own correction to the widespread 'check the title plan, the T marks show whose fence it is' advice. States that most title plans do not show exact boundaries and that you usually do not need the exact boundaries recorded anywhere, and that there is usually NO RECORD of either the exact boundary between two properties or who owns the hedge, wall, tree or fence between two properties. The two formal routes to settle it are a boundary agreement with the neighbour or an application for a determined boundary. Pair with Land Registration Act 2002 s.60, which makes a registered boundary a general boundary that does not determine the exact line unless determined.
Cited in Fencing Cost & Types: A UK Guide.
- very strong RN-9KXRWL cited
HM Revenue and Customs
The section that kills the persistent claim that work to a listed building is VAT free. With effect from 1 October 2012 the zero rate for the first grant of a major interest in a substantially reconstructed protected building was withdrawn in cases where zero rating relied on three-fifths of the work, measured by cost, being approved alterations. The transitional relief that softened the change expired on 30 September 2015, and was only ever available where a relevant consent was applied for or a written contract entered into before 21 March 2012, or where 10 per cent of the substantial reconstruction was complete before that date. Zero rating survives only where the first grant of a major interest relates to a protected building substantially reconstructed from a shell. Defines a major interest as the freehold, in Scotland the absolute interest, or a lease of over 21 years, though not less than 20 years in Scotland. Ordinary alteration work to an occupied listed home is therefore standard rated at 20 per cent.
Cited in Reclamation Yards & Salvage: Buying Reclaimed Materials.
- very strong RN-26FMBT cited
HM Revenue and Customs
HMRC's internal manual chapter on the approved alteration zero rate, whose very title fixes the date the relief ended: the rules it explains are those prior to 1 October 2012, so a note that still tells readers to claim zero-rated VAT on approved alterations to a listed home is out of date by more than a decade. Manual published 19 March 2016 and updated 4 August 2026. The chapter contents show what the old test required and remains useful for pre-2012 work and for understanding the terms still used: VCONST08100 the basic conditions for zero-rating, VCONST08200 whether the work is to a protected building, VCONST08300 whether the work is an approved alteration, VCONST08350 whether the work is approved, VCONST08450 the distinction between alterations and repair or maintenance, VCONST08550 incidental alterations, VCONST08600 structures in the curtilage of a building, VCONST08700 certificates, VCONST08750 services excluded from zero-rating and VCONST08800 apportionment.
Cited in Reclamation Yards & Salvage: Buying Reclaimed Materials.
- very strong RN-AW0FCY cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The second volume of Approved Document B, needed when a homeowner project crosses out of purely domestic use. Paragraph 0.1 draws the line: Volume 1 deals solely with dwellings INCLUDING blocks of flats, so a flat conversion stays in Volume 1, while Volume 2 covers every other building type. Table 0.1 sets the purpose groups: 1(a) flat, 1(b) dwellinghouse with a habitable storey at least 4.5m above ground up to 18m, 1(c) dwellinghouse with no habitable storey 4.5m above ground, then 2(a) residential institutional, 2(b) residential other (hotel, boarding house, hall of residence, hostel), 3 office, 4 shop and commercial, 5 assembly and recreation, 6 industrial, 7(a) storage and 7(b) car parks for vehicles up to 2,500kg gross. Its notes keep work within purpose group 1: surgeries, consulting rooms or offices forming part of a dwellinghouse and used by an occupant in a professional capacity stay in group 1 provided they total no more than 50m2, and a detached garage or open carport of no more than 40m2 stays in group 1(c). Paragraph 0.21 requires a separate purpose group for an ancillary use if that use is a flat, or if the building or compartment exceeds 280m2 and the ancillary use is more than one fifth of the total floor area; paragraph 0.22 requires separate purpose groups for genuinely independent uses such as shops with offices above, and the more onerous guidance applies where there is doubt. Paragraphs 0.23 and 0.24 require Volume 1 to be consulted as well for mixed use buildings that include dwellings, and paragraph 3.2 requires separate escape routes, or other effective protection of common escape routes, where a building has storeys or parts of storeys in different purpose groups.
Cited in Carpet Tile Installation Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-7M5BP0 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Secretary of State's direction, replacing the 2015 direction. Para 4 requires notice of listed building consent applications and of the LPA's decisions to be given to Historic England for works to any grade I or II* listed building, and for 'relevant works' to any grade II (unstarred) building; and to the six national amenity societies (SPAB, Ancient Monuments Society, Council for British Archaeology, Georgian Group, Victorian Society, Twentieth Century Society) for works for the demolition of a listed building or for alteration comprising or including demolition of any part. Para 3(b) deems demolition of any principal internal element, including any staircase, load-bearing wall, floor structure or roof structure, to be demolition of a substantial part of the interior, which matters for mezzanine insertions. Fetchable only by curl plus pdftotext; WebFetch returns garbled binary.
- very strong RN-6MMER0 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The current NPPF, published 17 August 2026 (130 pages), replacing the framework first published March 2012 and revised July 2018, February 2019, July 2021, September 2023, December 2023 and December 2024, and also replacing Planning policy for traveller sites. The single most important thing about this edition for anyone citing it: the framework has been completely restructured from continuously numbered paragraphs into lettered and numbered policies, so every existing citation of an NPPF paragraph number is now stale. The chapters are Plan-making (PM1 to 17), Decision-making (DM1 to 10), Achieving sustainable development (S1 to 6), Climate change (CC1 to 3), Homes (HO1 to 13), Economy (E1 to 4), Town centres (TC1 to 4), Communications (CO1 to 2), Clean energy and water (W1 to 4), Minerals (M1 to 6), Making effective use of land (L1 to 3), Green Belt (GB1 to 8), Well-designed places (DP1 to 4), Transport (TR1 to 8), Healthy communities (HC1 to 8), Pollution (P1 to 6), Flood risk (F1 to 9), Natural environment (N1 to 6) and Historic environment (HE1 to 10). Policy GB7(1)(b) is the one homeowners meet: the reuse, extension, alteration or replacement of an existing building is not inappropriate development in the Green Belt provided the existing building is of permanent and substantial construction, is lawful in planning terms, and any extension or alteration will not result in a disproportionate increase in size compared to the original building, with footnote 40 defining the original building as the building that existed on 1 July 1948 or, if later, as it was originally built. Policy HE5(2)(c) now defines substantial harm expressly, as where a development proposal would seriously affect a key element of a heritage asset significance, and HE4(2) requires clear and convincing justification for any harm to a designated heritage asset.
Cited in Renovate or Rebuild? How to Decide.
- very strong RN-70QMAN cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The source that kills the widespread claim that Building Regulations set a minimum ceiling height in England. The gov.uk page states the standard is not a building regulation and remains solely within the planning system as a new form of technical planning standard, applied only where a local authority has adopted it in its Local Plan. The March 2015 standard itself (ISBN 978-1-4098-4567-6) sets Gross Internal Area minimums by bedrooms and bedspaces (3b4p notation) in Table 1, organised by storey height, and at paragraph 10(i) sets the minimum floor to ceiling height at 2.3m for at least 75% of the Gross Internal Area. Paragraph 2 records that the bedroom, storage and internal area requirements have no other statutory meaning or use. It also gives the counting rules: storage under stairs with 900 to 1500mm headroom counts at 50% of floor area and anything under 900mm not at all. Applies to new dwellings, not to extensions of existing houses.
Cited in House Extension Design Ideas.
- very strong RN-EUGGMV cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
MHCLG's official explanatory booklet on the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, applying to England and Wales, Crown copyright 2016. Explains the Act's effect on the Building Owner who wishes to carry out work covered by the Act and the Adjoining Owner who receives notice of it. Defines 'owner' for the Act's purposes as including anyone holding the freehold title, holding a leasehold title for a period exceeding one year, under contract to purchase such a title, or entitled to receive rents from the property, so a single property can have more than one owner. States clearly that the Act is separate from planning and building regulations control: agreement under the Act does not remove the need for planning permission or building regulations compliance, and neither does planning permission or building regulations compliance remove the need to comply with the Act. Carries a disclaimer that the booklet is a general guide and not an authoritative interpretation of the law.
Cited in Party Wall Agreements for Loft Conversions Explained.
- very strong RN-U3H36M cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
Sets the appeal deadlines: 12 weeks from the date on the decision notice for householder and minor commercial appeals and 6 months for other planning appeals (paragraph 013, revised 2 April 2026), 8 weeks for advertisement consent (paragraph 016) and 28 days from the date of issue for enforcement notice appeals (paragraph 018). Describes the four procedures (Part 1 and Part 2 written representations, hearings and inquiries) with Planning Inspectorate targets of 98 per cent decided within 16 to 20 weeks for written representations and 24 to 26 weeks for hearings and inquiries (paragraph 014), and explains awards of costs where a party behaves unreasonably causing unnecessary or wasted expense (paragraphs 030 to 035). Page last updated 2 April 2026.
- very strong RN-VTA6M2 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
The national guidance on heritage assets. Paragraph 044 confirms listed building consent is needed for any works to demolish part of a listed building or to alter or extend it in a way that affects its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, and that listing covers the entire building inside and out unless the list entry says otherwise. Paragraph 042 explains planning permission and listed building consent are two separate regimes, and 043 that works needing planning permission still need it if the building is listed. Paragraph 023 confirms listing extends to any object or structure within the curtilage that has formed part of the land since before 1 July 1948, while 013 notes setting and curtilage may differ in extent. Paragraph 024 covers the special architectural or historic interest test for conservation area designation and 025 the duty to review conservation areas. Paragraph 037 explains World Heritage Sites are article 2(3) land where permitted development is restricted and authorities can restrict further by article 4 direction. Paragraph 018 sets substantial harm as a high test judged by degree of harm to significance rather than the scale of the development.
Cited in Cheaper Alternative Industrial Style Windows Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-SM4299 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
States that planning permission is only needed if the work is development within section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and that interior alterations and works that do not materially affect the external appearance of a building are not development (paragraph 001). Explains permitted development rights under the GPDO 2015 and their restriction on article 2(3) land such as conservation areas, National Parks, AONBs, the Broads and World Heritage Sites (paragraphs 016 to 017), prior approval including the neighbour consultation scheme for larger single-storey rear extensions (paragraphs 026 to 032), lawful development certificates (paragraph 024) and article 4 directions, which must be applied in a measured and targeted way to the smallest geographical area possible and can make an authority liable for compensation (paragraphs 036 to 043). Page last updated 26 July 2023.
Cited in Conservation Area Rules for Homeowners, Media Walls: Cost, Build & Ideas.
- very strong RN-3KGCLW cited
Planning Portal
States plainly that fences, walls and gates do not require building regulation approval, and that although building regulations do not apply the structures must be structurally sound and maintained. Adds that garden and boundary walls should be inspected periodically for repair or rebuilding, noting that wall collapse is one of the most common causes of death by falling masonry. This is the source to cite against any note claiming a garden or freestanding retaining wall needs Building Regulations approval or an Approved Document A submission.
Cited in Garden & Retaining Walls: Cost & Build.
- very strong RN-N80QRQ cited
Planning Portal
The Planning Portal's homeowner summary of GPDO Schedule 2 Part 2 Class A. No permission needed where the structure does not exceed one metre in height from ground level next to a highway, or two metres in height elsewhere, and where an existing structure's height is not increased beyond those limits. Permission IS needed where the site is a listed building or within its curtilage, or where the boundary involves a neighbouring listed building or its curtilage. Notes that in a conservation area you might need permission to TAKE DOWN a fence, wall or gate, which is the reverse of what most readers expect. Also notes the right can be removed by an article four direction or a planning condition. Ends with the standard caveat that this is introductory guidance and the local planning authority should be checked.
Cited in Fencing Cost & Types: A UK Guide, Garden Gate Installation Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-DM9ZVH cited
The National Archives
Section 60(1): the boundary of a registered estate as shown for the purposes of the register is a GENERAL BOUNDARY unless shown as determined under this section. Section 60(2): a general boundary does not determine the exact line of the boundary. Section 60(3) allows rules to set the circumstances, method and application procedure for determining an exact boundary and for registering it; section 60(4) requires those applications to be made to the registrar. This is the statutory basis for saying a Land Registry title plan cannot settle a fence line or fence ownership, which matters in fencing, hedge, extension and boundary dispute notes.
Cited in Fencing Cost & Types: A UK Guide.
- very strong RN-8W22IZ cited
The National Archives
the extension of the planning enforcement time limits to ten years and the date it took effect
- very strong RN-ZRVGWJ cited
The National Archives
the period a local planning authority has to determine an application for a certificate of lawfulness
- very strong RN-B3EWHK cited
The National Archives
The national permitted development right for boundary enclosures, and the answer to the very common error of treating fence height as a council rule. Class A permits the erection, construction, maintenance, improvement or alteration of a gate, fence, wall or other means of enclosure. A.1 exclusions: (a) adjacent to a HIGHWAY USED BY VEHICULAR TRAFFIC the height must not exceed 1 metre above ground level, except at a school where 2 metres is allowed provided any part above 1 metre does not obstruct highway users' sightlines; (b) anywhere else 2 metres above ground level; (c) where an existing enclosure is maintained, improved or altered its height must not exceed its former height or the (a)/(b) limit, whichever is the greater, so an existing over-height fence may be kept at that height but not raised; (d) development is NOT permitted within the curtilage of, or to a boundary of, a listed building. The 'used by vehicular traffic' qualifier is routinely dropped from consumer guidance, which wrongly applies the 1 metre limit to a boundary onto a footpath.
Cited in Chain Link Fence Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Fencing Cost & Types: A UK Guide, Garden Gate Installation Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Garden Steps & Sloping Gardens and 1 more.
- very strong RN-27DUQW cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The full Act in 22 sections. Section 1 covers a new building on the line of junction, section 2 the rights of an owner over an existing party wall, section 3 party structure notices, section 4 counter notices, section 5 disputes arising under sections 3 and 4, and section 6 adjacent excavation and construction (the 3 metre and 6 metre notice rules). Sections 7 to 9 deal with compensation, rights of entry and easements, section 10 with resolution of disputes and the surveyors award, sections 11 to 14 with expenses, security for expenses and accounts, and sections 15 to 21 with service of notices, offences, recovery of sums and interpretation. This contents page is the index a note should link to when naming a particular section.
- very strong RN-8IIL48 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The statutory ecclesiastical exemption. s.60(1) disapplies the listed building consent requirement for any ecclesiastical building 'for the time being used for ecclesiastical purposes'. The trigger is therefore current use, not deconsecration and not a change of ownership: the exemption falls away when the building stops being used for worship. s.60(3) treats a building used or available for use by a minister of religion wholly or mainly as a residence as NOT an ecclesiastical building, unless it is a chapel forming part of an episcopal house of residence on the Church Buildings Council list or subject to faculty jurisdiction. Use this rather than any secondary summary of the ecclesiastical exemption.
- very strong RN-MT6TNZ cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The designation power. Every local planning authority shall from time to time determine which parts of their area are areas of special architectural or historic interest the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance, and shall designate those areas as conservation areas. Subsection (2) imposes a duty to review past designations and designate further areas. Subsection (3) lets the Secretary of State determine that an undesignated part of an authority's area is of special architectural or historic interest. This is the national authority for what a conservation area IS; the designation of any particular area remains a local act and cannot be generalised.
Cited in Conservation Area Rules for Homeowners.
- very strong RN-XN22L9 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The provision that decides when listed building consent is actually needed, and the answer to the common overstatement that any alteration to a listed building requires consent. Section 7(1): 'no person shall execute or cause to be executed any works for the demolition of a listed building or for its alteration or extension in any manner which would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, unless the works are authorised under section 8.' The trigger is therefore effect on character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, not alteration as such, so work with no effect on that character falls outside the restriction. Section 7(2) makes subsection (1) subject to section 33(1) of the Planning Act 2008, which excludes the requirement for other consents where development consent is required. Authorisation itself comes from section 8.
Cited in Church Conversion Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Integral Blinds Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Leaded Window Repair Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Lime Plaster & Lime Mortar Explained and 3 more.
- very strong RN-N75E11 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The principal regulations for building control in England, as amended by the Building Safety Act 2022 changes. Part 2 covers control of building work, material change of use (regulations 5 and 6) and exemptions; Part 2A sets out the dutyholder and competence duties on clients, designers and contractors; Part 3 covers notices, plans and certificates, including regulation 12 (giving a building notice or an application for building control approval), regulation 13 (particulars and plans for a building notice), regulation 14 (applications for building control approval with full plans) and regulation 17 (completion certificates). Part 5 covers self-certification and third-party certification schemes, Part 6 energy efficiency requirements and Part 7 water efficiency. Schedule 1 holds the technical requirements in Parts A to S that the Approved Documents give guidance on.
Cited in Building Control: What It Is & When You Need It, Building Regulations Explained for Homeowners.
- very strong RN-T67JO7 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Class 6, small detached buildings, is the source of the 15 m2 and 30 m2 figures that renovation copy routinely misattributes to permitted development. A detached single-storey building with a floor area not exceeding 30 m2 containing no sleeping accommodation is exempt from the Building Regulations where no point of it is less than one metre from the boundary of its curtilage, or where it is constructed substantially of non-combustible material. Separately, a detached building with a floor area not exceeding 15 m2 containing no sleeping accommodation is exempt regardless of its position relative to the boundary. Sleeping accommodation defeats both. Schedule 2 also covers Classes 1 to 7 including greenhouses, agricultural buildings, temporary buildings, ancillary buildings and small conservatories and porches.
Cited in Garage Extension Cost & Ideas (2026), Home Dance Studio Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-HUA3K9 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Lists the building work that is not notifiable. Paragraph 1(j) is the sanitary one: replacing a sanitary convenience with one that uses no more water than the one it replaces, a washbasin, sink or bidet, a fixed bath, a shower, a rainwater gutter or a rainwater downpipe, in each case where the work does not include any work to underground drainage. Installing a new WC, as opposed to replacing one, therefore stays notifiable, and so does any replacement that touches underground drainage or uses more water. The Schedule also covers replacement of non-structural windows in certain circumstances and various electrical and heating replacements, all subject to the work not prejudicing health or safety.
Cited in Install A Macerating Toilet Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-4MVF6Q cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The determination periods behind every 'the council has 8 weeks' claim, in the legal text rather than a council summary. Article 34(2)(a): 13 weeks from the day after receipt for an application for major development. 34(2)(aa): 10 weeks for technical details consent for major development or for public infrastructure development. 34(2)(b): 8 weeks for development which is not major development. 34(2)(bb): 5 weeks for technical details consent which is not major development. 34(2)(c): any extended period agreed in writing between applicant and authority, unless notice of appeal has already been given. Note that article 34 contains no 16-week EIA period: that substitution is made by regulation 68(2) of the EIA Regulations 2017. Article 34(9) sets the 21-day and 14-day publicity waits before determination, and 34(9A) extends both to 30 days for an EIA application accompanied by an environmental statement.
Cited in Chain Link Fence Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Planning Appeals: How to Appeal a Refusal.
- very strong RN-M6EH2N cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The source of the 16-week determination period for EIA applications, which does not appear in the DMPO itself. Regulation 68(2) provides that where an authority determines an application for EIA development, articles 27(2) and 34(2)(a) and (b) of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015 have effect as if for each reference to a period of 8 and 13 weeks there were substituted a reference to a period of 16 weeks. Regulation 68(3) makes the equivalent substitution for technical details consent, replacing the 5 and 10 week periods.
- very strong RN-3LA2VC cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Article 4(1) allows the Secretary of State or the local planning authority, where satisfied that it is expedient that development should not be carried out without permission, to direct that the permission granted by article 3 does not apply to all or any development of a Part, Class or paragraph of Schedule 2 in a specified area, or to any particular development. The procedures for making, modifying or cancelling a direction are set out in Schedule 3, and a direction does not affect development for which prior approval was granted before it took effect.
Cited in Brick Driveway Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Do You Need Planning Permission? A UK Homeowner's Guide, Do You Need Planning Permission for a Loft Conversion?, Driveway Gates & Automation and 13 more.
- very strong RN-Z0XQ8V cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Paragraph A.1 sets the householder extension limits: buildings may not cover more than 50 per cent of the curtilage (A.1(b)); a single-storey rear extension may not extend more than 4 metres beyond the rear wall of a detached house or 3 metres for any other house, nor exceed 4 metres in height (A.1(f)), rising to 8 metres and 6 metres under the larger home extension route (A.1(g)); an extension of more than one storey may not extend more than 3 metres beyond the rear wall or be within 7 metres of the rear boundary (A.1(h)); eaves within 2 metres of a boundary may not exceed 3 metres (A.1(i)); a side extension may not exceed 4 metres in height, have more than one storey or be wider than half the width of the original house (A.1(j)). Paragraph A.2 removes cladding and side or multi-storey rear extensions on article 2(3) land such as conservation areas. A.3 requires materials of similar appearance and obscure-glazed, non-opening upper-floor side windows unless the opening part is more than 1.7 metres above the floor, and A.4 sets the neighbour consultation (prior approval) procedure with its 42-day determination period.
Cited in Bedroom Extension Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Do You Need Planning Permission for an Extension?, Flat Roof vs Pitched Roof: Costs, Pros & Cons (UK), Garage Conversion Cost & Ideas (UK) and 12 more.
- very strong RN-KHYKNA cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Class B permits roof enlargements provided the roof space does not increase by more than 40 cubic metres for a terrace house or 50 cubic metres in any other case (B.1(d)), no part exceeds the height of the highest part of the existing roof (B.1(b)) and the work does not extend beyond the plane of any roof slope forming the principal elevation that fronts a highway (B.1(c)). The right is withdrawn on article 2(3) land, including conservation areas, and for houses created under Classes G, M, MA, N, P, PA or Q (B.1(a), (f) to (h)). Conditions in B.2 require materials of similar appearance, an enlargement set back not less than 0.2 metres from the eaves measured along the roof slope, and side-elevation windows that are obscure-glazed and non-opening unless the opening part is more than 1.7 metres above the floor.
Cited in Average Loft Conversion Cost: Real 2026 Breakdown by Type, Dormer Bungalow Conversions: Adding a Room to a Bungalow, Extension vs Loft Conversion vs Moving House, Hip-to-Gable Loft Conversions Explained and 7 more.
- very strong RN-5QRXP7 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Class C permits any other alteration to the roof of a dwellinghouse, which is the right rooflight and Velux loft conversions rely on. Paragraph C.1(b) makes development not permitted if the alteration would protrude more than 0.15 metres beyond the plane of the roof slope, measured perpendicular to the original roof plane, and C.1(c) if the highest part of the alteration would be higher than the highest part of the original roof. C.1(d) excludes chimneys, flues, soil and vent pipes and solar equipment from the class, and condition C.2 requires any window in a roof slope forming a side elevation to be obscure-glazed and non-opening below 1.7 metres above the floor of the room.
Cited in Non-Habitable Loft Conversion: Loft Rooms & the Rules, Renovate or Rebuild? How to Decide, Roof Lanterns: Cost & Options, Roof Light vs Dormer Loft Conversion: Which to Choose and 6 more.
- very strong RN-R8MOXU cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Class D is the permitted development right for porches. Development is not permitted if the ground area of the structure measured externally would exceed 3 square metres (D.1(b)), if any part would be more than 3 metres above ground level (D.1(c)) or if any part would be within 2 metres of any boundary of the curtilage with a highway (D.1(d)).
Cited in Door Screen Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Porches & Canopies: Cost & Planning.
- very strong RN-J6L7TI cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The primary legal text for garden rooms, sheds, summerhouses, pergolas, greenhouses and outdoor pools. Class E permits any building or enclosure, swimming or other pool within the curtilage required for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse, plus a domestic heating oil container. Limitations: E.1(b) buildings, enclosures and containers other than the original dwellinghouse must not cover more than 50% of the curtilage; E.1(c) nothing forward of a wall forming the principal elevation of the original dwellinghouse; E.1(d) single storey only; E.1(e) maximum height 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof, 2.5 metres if any part is within 2 metres of a curtilage boundary, otherwise 3 metres; E.1(f) eaves no higher than 2.5 metres; E.1(g) not within the curtilage of a listed building; E.1(h) no verandah, balcony or raised platform; E.1(j) oil containers capped at 3,500 litres. E.4 defines incidental use as including keeping poultry, bees, pet animals, birds or other livestock for domestic needs or personal enjoyment, which is why a garden room used as a separate dwelling falls outside Class E.
Cited in Annexe & Granny Flat: Cost, Planning & Rules, Build Garage Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Do You Need Planning Permission for a Garden Room?, Garden Room Cost & Complete Planning Guide (UK) and 9 more.
- very strong RN-4C9X4B cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Class F permits the provision within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse of a hard surface for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse, or its replacement in whole or in part. Condition F.2 applies where the hard surface would lie between a wall forming the principal elevation and a highway and its area would exceed 5 square metres: the surface must then be made of porous materials, or provision made to direct run-off water to a permeable or porous area or surface within the curtilage.
Cited in Brick Driveway Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Brick Steps Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Dropped Kerbs: Cost, Rules & How to Apply, Hardcore, MOT Type 1 & Sub-base Materials Explained.
- very strong RN-UW4IU6 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Class G permits installation, alteration or replacement of a chimney, flue or soil and vent pipe on a dwellinghouse. Not permitted where the chimney, flue or pipe would exceed the highest part of the roof by 1 metre or more. On article 2(3) land (conservation areas, National Parks, AONBs, the Broads and World Heritage Sites) it is not permitted on a wall or roof slope that both fronts a highway and forms the principal or a side elevation. Also excluded where the dwellinghouse was built under Part 20 of Schedule 2.
Cited in The Complete UK Roofing Guide (2026).
- very strong RN-YFQLLB cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
SI 2019/907, in force 25 May 2019. Regulation 4 makes permanent the previously temporary right in Class A of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015 to enlarge a dwellinghouse by up to 8 metres for a detached dwellinghouse and 6 metres for any other dwellinghouse, by removing the time limiting date of 30 May 2019 and the conditions that required the development to be completed by that date. This is the instrument that settles the date of the larger home extension scheme: the right dates from 2013 as a temporary measure and became permanent on 25 May 2019, not in 2020. The Regulations also make amendments on advertisement consent and compensation. England only.
Cited in Loft Conversion vs House Extension: Which Adds More Value?.
- very strong RN-KEQEWM cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
In force 1 September 2020 in England. Revokes Classes A1-A3, B1 and D1-D2 and inserts Classes E, F.1 and F.2. Class F.1 (learning and non-residential institutions) is 'any use not including residential use' for (a) education, (b) display of works of art otherwise than for sale or hire, (c) museum, (d) public library or public reading room, (e) public hall or exhibition hall, (f) for, or in connection with, public worship or religious instruction, (g) law court. A church is therefore F.1(f), not D1, in England: any note still saying 'D1' for a place of worship is stale. Class D1 does still exist in Wales.
- very strong RN-Y7DV4K cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 171B(1): in England no enforcement action may be taken in respect of operations after ten years beginning with the date on which the operations were substantially completed (four years in Wales). Section 171B(2) applies the same ten-year limit in England (four years in Wales) to a change of use of a building to a single dwellinghouse, and section 171B(3) gives ten years from the date of the breach for any other breach of planning control. The England limits were extended from four to ten years by section 115 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, in force from 25 April 2024.
Cited in Conservation Area Rules for Homeowners.