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Hi, I'm having issues trying to get what I want via planning so I'm going to go down the PD route and max out what I can do. I've had a read through the 'Permitted development rights for householders' technical guidance but there are a few areas that don't seem clear cut especially around bungalows (it could just be my lack of understanding though 🤣). It doesn't help that my property and plot are an odd shape. I've got a few questions, any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. From my understanding I can extend out from either side up to 50% of the original house and out the rear up to 8m (subject to a neighbour consultation scheme), is that correct? The extensions can't be more than 4m in height. I'm assuming a pitched roof is permitted as long as the total height doesn't exceed 4m? Can the roof on the extension tie into the existing roof (pics attached)? Does the type of pitched roof on the extension matter? as in can it be gable ended, hip ended or is that irrelevant (pics attached)? Can I add a dormer to the existing roof that faces the garden? I've uploaded a site plan. What would be classed as the width of my house the green or yellow arrow (house built circa 1804, I have no idea when the bit on the side was built. It's the bathroom)? I'm assuming it'll be a struggle trying to get PD to extend out the way of the red arrow as it fronts a highway? Or could I argue that there's a substantial distance between the house and the highway? I'm assuming the pink line is the principal elevation of my property (Back the in 1970's the driveway entrance was moved from 'Highway B' to 'Highway A' and a porch was added to the rear of the property facing the garden)? Thanks for any help.

Hi, I'm after some advice. I bought my property back in 2016, it's an old (circa 1804) single storey detached cottage/bungalow on a large plot. It's not listed, it’s not in a designated area (conservation area, national park, areas of outstanding natural beauty, world heritage site, the Norfolk or Suffolk broads) and there’s no ‘Article 4 direction’ in place. The council are however classing my property as a ‘non designated heritage asset’ (it’s a former toll house with a distinctive multi-faceted roof form). I want to extend it quite a bit, but the council don’t want me to touch it at all. I had a pre-app meeting last week and the planning officer basically said any plans that altered the original building would pretty much be refused. She did however suggest building a separate modern style building and linking it to the house with a corridor (I’m not too keen on that idea though). I really don’t know what to do now, do I proceed with plans to extend the current house (without altering the current house too much) with the view that I’ll end up having to appeal? Do I go down the permitted development route? I really don’t know what to do. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Attached pictures showing site plan and current elevations.

Hi, Please may I query whether the following proposed extension falls under permitted development rights or whether a full planning application is required. We are looking to complete a rear extension to our detached house by 3 metres, complying with all PD legislations. The house has no existing extensions. The house has an attached garage that spans half of the side of the property and 1.5metres into the rear garden. See below floor plan. Under the techical specification, would the garage form part of the Original Dwelling? (it was built at the same time as the house). Therefore, an extension on the rear of the property (see red below) which would adjoin to the garage would notbe classed as a wrap around extension, as the garage is original? Thanks, Lauren

Hello, this forum has been so helpful over the years but finally need some specific advice for myself. To set the scene, we are due to exchange on a house (dormer bungalow) next week, it’s the classical worst house on the best street scenario, untouched in 50 years etc - we put plans in a few weeks ago so we could hopefully get started this summer, however our local council officer has blown a hole in it. We need to try urgently find out what we can do and are probably a week away from the exchange. My architect is urgently seeking clarification from the council about what we can do, but thought a post here could help this fact finding. It’s sat in the green belt (but very built up) so she will only allow 30% / 180m3, whereas our plans are about 500m3. For context, the surrounding houses range from big to massive, and I’m confident a lot of them have done more than 30percent. Neighbour to the right has done various extensions (up and over garage + rear single storey) and our left neighbour is actually a rear neighbours back garden. I have posted the as is, and proposed front and back - we’re thinking PD might be the solution as the land around the house is big and will ensure we don’t hit the 50% limit. The new double porch on the front i think is a non starter (I know it’s not under PD), but I wondered if we could get the rest. Architect initially thoughts are: Garage we could re roof to a gable so long as it was lower than the existing ridge - aware may need to step it in towards the boundary. Would AA allow this as an alternative, or would the roof have to remain flat? Single storey rear to left can be done as within PD, and as the garage is already there it wouldn’t fall under wraparound Double storey can be done but reduced 1m to make it 3m deep - aware that the eaves may need to be dropped to the existing, but he thinks the dormer (original on house) could allow the eaves to remain as per the plans. Additional points - dormer bungalow no conservation area, no previous planning so PD rights there too We’re confident if we went in for planning for the porch and garage, they’d revoke PD so seems a non starter too Any help or advice would be most welcomed. Thank you, Cedar Cottage 2421-303 Proposed Elevations.pdf Cedar Cottage 2421-302 Proposed Elevations.pdf 24_01317_HOU-EXISTING_ELEVATIONS-7823031.pdf

Currently we have a single storey flat roof extension on the rear of our 3bed semi detached which contains the kitchen, it's a bit pokey so I'd ideally like to extend this flat roof extension to be the full width of the rear of the house, is this possible under permitted development or would I need planning permission for this? The extension would not reach out further than 3m from the back wall of the house. Would basically like it to cover the full width of the rear of the house, single storey. Added a badly annotated pic: Green is the walls I'd like to add, red wall would need removing, what's your thoughts?

Hi, I have recently joined and this is my first post. The original house has an extension to the front of the property. The property is in greenbelt, hence can only build using permitted development. Can I build on the front as part of side extension to original for half the width? Such that is changes the existing main door and brings it forward to the same line as part of the original building. Below is my original building plan with extension at the rear.

A tenant has added a garage to the side of his property. We agreed to the wooden structure as it was well within permitted development requirements. The property was originally one detached house but was split into 2 semi detached houses. The planners are saying that because the property has been subdivided the measurements for the garage are too wide as they can only take them from the subdivided part. However I understand original dwelling to be as it was built. Can anyone help clear this up? Thankyou

Hi All, We're considering replacing an existing single storey lean-to extension with new structure, essentially on the same footprint. We're in a detatched house with plenty of space around. I've read the PD documentation and couldn't find anything specifically relating to this situation. The current extension consists of a brick built wall about 1m high with conservatory style glazing above and a glass roof which constitutes a porch area. We would like to replace the structure with something more substantial and better insulated then knock through to create a larger kitchen. Construction would probably be rendered block to harmonise with the section of building it will adjoin. A new casement window will be fitted to the front elevation (significantly smaller than the existing glazed area) and one or two roof windows would be fitted). Do you think we need PP or will PD cover it? Or would neither apply if it were considered to be just an improvement of the existing structure?

The viewpoint used to decide items is a balance between the outlay cost and the running costs. This system will not be the cheapest way to produce heating and hot water nor the most expensive installation system but a balance related to the existing equipment and personal requirements. BEST ADVICE: Read the manual of the product you are proposing to use BEFORE you buy, especially regarding the installation and check that it will work for you. Choosing the ASHP: The size of the ASHP was determined by the heat loss calculated and the peak heat demand when the outside temperature is -8C. This resulted in the requirement of a small ASHP. We did not want an all singing all dancing system, but one that would combine with the existing central heating radiators/hot water tank and MVHR. An air to water ASHP was chosen to be able to use the existing central heating radiators already installed. The radiators are too small to produce enough heat at the lower running temperature of an ASHP so water coils are being installed in the MVHR system. The other alternative would have been to replace the radiators with larger ones as the existing ones are almost all single panel which could be replaced with double panel to increase the heat output. This option is going to be held in reserve depending on the effectiveness of the water coils in the MVHR ducts. The ASHP was chosen for it minimum working temperature of -20C and the fact that it had an inverter. An inverter heat pump uses a variable speed compressor which modulates its output increasing or decreasing its speed to match exactly the heat demand requirements of the building as the outdoor air temperature changes. This makes for a more efficient output. Because the bungalow is on the edge of an estate we wanted have a low noise unit. The unit installed is listed as 46 and 60db. I think that means 46db when running at lowest and 60db when flat out. (I'm sure someone will tell me). With the distance from walls and other properties this is well within MCS requirements. Because the bungalow suffered from strong solar gain in the summer the choice was made to install an ASHP with cooling. ASHP - planning, MCS: In order to avoid requiring planning permission the decision was taken to install the ASHP under the permitted development rules. The only position where the ASHP unit could be situated within the rules was on the flat roof. Because the flat roof has 200mm of PIR and the ASHP unit is about 88kgs concern has been raised that the vibrating motion may erode the PIR over time. The decision was taken to install and monitor the out come. The positioning gives an open run of air to the unit, but far enough from neighbours to hopefully avoid problems. Its. not perfect because during the summer it is exposed to the full sun. We hope to mitigate this when cooling the building by using the PV energy to run the ASHP. The theory being: Summer=hotter sun=more electricity produced= more power to produce cooling using the ASHP. ASHP pipework: The shorter the pipework between the ASHP and the thermal envelope of the building the more efficient. The greater the pipe insulation the more efficient. The shorter the pipework between the ASHP and the hot water tank/ heating system the more efficient, especially to/from the hot water tank as the water temperature is usually higher. ASHP connections: The pipework required is 28mm for this ASHP all the way round through the hot water tank, through the buffer tank and back to the ASHP. We used 25mm thick insulation. Two flexi hoses were used at the ASHP end with two 28mm isolating valves. The power cable used was 6mm twin and earth. The cable size is related to the possible voltage loss not just the power required! Apparently the ASHP is sensitive to voltage loss. To be honest I think 4mm could have been used but there was a roll of 6mm purchased for the PV with enough excess, so this was used. A suitable fuse was required which needed to be a MCB or RCBO Type C 20amp with this ASHP. A RCBO was installed. The control of the ASHP is via a Carel LCD "user-friendly" interface Controller and various electrical links. (More later as this develops...) The 3 port valve is a 3 Port Diverter Valve not a 3 port mid-position valve. The mid-position would allow water from the ASHP to go both to hot water and heating at the same time. However the temperature of the water flowing to heat the hot water tank is expected to be different to the temperature of the water flowing to the heating/cooling. The water side of the system will require antifreeze. so the volume of the water will need to be calculated... Please let me know what else I have forgotten...

Hi all, New member here with a bit of an issue. My wife and I have just bought our first home and we plan on converting the garage (not standalone) into a habitable room. Unfortunately the garage has a huge bulkhead inside it which severely limits its usability. Our house is semi-detached and the neighbour’s property mirrors ours pretty much exactly - there is a shared party wall between the two garages. The house is not in a conservation or other protected area. Neither of our garages are part of the original dwelling, they were part of a front extension which was done in the 1980s. The bulkhead is a result of an unnecessarily low flat roof (only about 2.5m from the outside) which means that if we were to build up the floor of the garage to match the floor height of the rest of the first floor, there would only be about 2.1m of clearance under the bulkhead (which covers half of the room). We therefore applied for full planning permission to our local council to raise the roof to 3m but they have said they will be rejecting the application because it will cause a mismatch between our property and our neighbour’s and therefore harm the character of the street. Our neighbour has also objected to our plans about six times! We have however already got a party wall agreement in place. The council's decision is due on Monday and if, as expected, they reject our application, we plan to appeal. I know the appeal process can be very long so my question is two-fold: 1. If the council refuse our application, can we still go ahead with raising the roof height of the garage to 3m under permitted development rules? This would remove our need to appeal to the planning inspectorate. 2. If permitted development rules don't permit raising the roof height, does anyone have advice on appealing a planning decision rejected solely based on "impacting the character of the street"? Thanks, RB

Hi. I'm just looking for a bit of advice. We own a dormer bungalow in the Cheshire greenbelt and have been trying to secure planning permission to build a double garage at the front of the property. The planners have indicated that they intend to refuse the application despite us citing many examples of similar development that has been permitted recently (two of which are in our lane). We do intend to appeal - however as a backup plan, we have been looking at what might be possible under permitted development instead. We have approximately 5.5m of space at the side of our property between our property and the boundary between our neighbours. We have an existing 4m x 7m detached single garage that sits in this space ~0.5m from the boundary, but is set approximately 6m back from the principle elevation. Our thoughts are that we could build a new garage as a side extension to the house in the space in front of the existing garage and tag it on to the existing garage. We would look to keep the existing garage and widen it to bridge the gap between it and the house - in essence incorporating it into the new garage. This would give us a garage that is ~13m long and 5m wide overall. The garage would have a pitched gabled roof. I have attached a diagram showing the existing dwelling and garage in blue - and the proposed additions in red. The boundary is indicated by the line to the right hand side of the image. We were even considering making an access point from an adjacent room in the house into the garage. The new garage would be around 42sqm larger than the existing garage. From reading the PD rules, we believe this would be permissible since it would be classed as a single storey side extension. It would be 5m wide (which is significantly less than 50% of the width of the existing dwelling - which is almost 17m wide). It would have pitched room a with 4m ridge line and would have eaves less than 3m in height. We have a couple of question marks however: 1. Is widening and attaching the existing detached garage to the house, or tagging the old garage onto the new permitted under PD rules. I cannot find any specific rule forbidding bridging between an existing dwelling and an existing detached outbuilding. 2. Would the proximity to the neighbours boundary be an issue. Can we build ~0.5m from the boundary as long as the eaves of the garage are at 3m or below (building closer than 2m from the boundary seems to be allowed under permitted development rule A1-i as long as the eaves don't exceed 3m). 3. The neighbours have a window that would face the new part of the garage. Would this cause us any issues? The neighbours property is elevated relative to ours and I have checked the angle that the new ridge line would form. Its approximately 10 degrees from the centre of the neighbours window (far below the 23 degree rule). 4. Would adding an access point directly from the house to the garage be permitted under PD rules - again I can see no specific rule forbidding this. 5. Would this be subject to a "prior approval" notification. Again as far as I can tell, this doesn't apply to single storey extensions and would only apply if we wanted to add additional storeys. Thanks

Quick Q - assuming the structure is dimensionally within PD in terms of height of eaves/proximity to border/height of pitch etc etc and ticks all those boxes, could an L-shaped building at the rear of a dwelling be constructed under PD? Is the shape less relevant providing those other limitations have been met? How far away from the dwelling house would this need to be to qualify as a separate structure in its own right?* *so the planners couldn't throw the "cumulative sq m % floor uplift" argument at you...

Hi all, has anyone ever managed to reclaim previously removed permitted development rights? The fool who previously owned our house was outwitted by the council and stupidly signed away clause rights A, B and E. This was 7 years ago now. This article strongly suggests that unless exceptional circumstances were in place (there weren't, aside from basic green belt law), these rights shouldn't have been removed: http://just-planning.co.uk/how-to-get-rid-of-planning-conditions-that-remove-your-permitted-development-rights/ The National Planning Policy Framework (the NPPF), the granddaddy of planning policies, states that (paragraph 52): “…planning conditions should not be used to restrict national permitted development rights unless there is clear justification to do so.”
 The government’s national Planning Practice Guidance (the PPG) goes further, saying that: “Conditions restricting the future use of permitted development rights or changes of use will rarely pass the test of necessity and should only be used in exceptional circumstances.” Has anyone been through the process of getting said rights reinstated? Would be very interested to hear any experiences if so... Thanks.

I would like to install a lantern skylight over the kitchen space. the kitchen's roof is lower than the rest of the house's roof. It has a very shallow slope facing the front elevation. I know that I should seek Planning Permission if the 'the alteration would protrude more than 0.15 metres beyond the plane of the slope of the original roof when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of the original roof' Knowing that the lantern wouldn't be higher than the highest part of the original roof. can anyone help, does this mean I have to seek planning permission or this is considered permitted development?

I am looking at knocking down an existing old conservatory and replacing it with a single storey extension, which I want to make longer. I have a question re permitted development, which as from May 2019 allows 6m in length, and up to half the width of the house. My house is semi-detached, so I can go out up to 6m. However, the back of my house is L shaped, so my question is from where can I go out 6m, from point X or point Y on my diagram?

Hi to everyone. I am looking to options to extend my current house (mainly to increase the upstairs footprint and increase the number of bedrooms), and am after any advice on the balance between this needing planning permission, or falling under permitted development. Ive attached a couple of quick block drawings to show the house (and the houses to either side). At present there are 4 houses (semi detached, with the party wall in the middle), 2 floors in one half, and then a single floor on the other (blue in the drawings), and the proposed extension in orange. Ive also attached a floor plan, with the blue sections being the house, and the orange being changes previously made (at the bottom an internal garage conversion, and at the rear a 3*3.5 extension). In terms of work i am looking at, i would look to add a 2nd story above the current single, running the full length of the current rooms. I dont plan on going further forward, backwards or outwards. Currently the single story has a flat roof, and i would propose to retain a flat roof on the extension. I do have a short session booked with the duty planning person, but thats not for a couple of months (they are quite booked!). Any comments, guidance etc on the plan, and which path its likely to fall under would be appreciated. Any questions please ask - im happy to clarify.

Hi, I have put in for permitted development for an extension, read up on all the regs but got turned down as it's too long. The existing house is over 100 years with no extension built after this time. The main house is square and has a two story 6m long 3m wide room coming off back which has a courtyard to the side. I want to build over the courtyard to the side of the rear house and join onto existing annex. The extension doesn't go past the side of the main house and goes 1.4m beyond the rear wall of the house. Is the council correct in their decision or have they misconstrued my plan. The house is not covered by any local building restrictions e.g. listed or article 4.

Hi everyone, After years of hard slog (mainly by my much more capable other half!) and fours house flips later we have finally bought a house for 'us' rather than one to do up and sell on - exciting times! So the property has a large detached garage with a first floor on top. The first floor is accessed externally and currently has a store room and another larger room which was used by the old owners as an office (so already has power). With the amount of space up there we'd love to convert it into an annex for family to stay, with the possibility of air bnb'ing it later down the line. We're doing our best to get our heads round permissions but getting a bit stuck! Having spoken to our local council we can have a 'pre-application advice' meeting for £80 to discuss changing it to an annex for personal use or £260 to discuss changing it into a 'holiday let'. Before committing to either of these (to potentially be told no - previous owner applied for planning twice to build another house on the land and main reason for denial was increased traffic in the rural area), I was wondering whether anyone could help me understand our chances of getting planning for either of the above.... or even whether converting it to an annex for personal use would fall into the permitted developments category. I'm completely new to all this and the information online is going straight over my head so any help in an easy to understand format would be very much appreciated!! Thanks so much.

Hi all Apologies for another newbie question. I am looking to extend out the back and side and am under the impression that a wrap-around extension does not fall under Permitted Development. If I was to extend "separately" out the side and out the back would this be ok (under PD) and would there be much difference in price given its the same size? Neither direction is going beyond 3m from house or should cause any other PD issues) Many thanks in advance Pictures might help: 1. Current house footprint (including old out building to be demolished) 2. Potential wrap-around extension 3. Potential "separate" extensions

Hi Total newbie here, but confused by permitted development rules. House is detached with garage at the rear (blue on image) at the boundary. We are looking to do a single storey rear extension 6m back for the full length of the house. Trying to find out if we do it for the full width of the house including the garage (orange on image). Can’t seem to find anything on if it can be done behind an adjoining garage without planning permission. would be great full for any advice on this many thanks

Hello all, Any clarification would be much appreciated. We have a bungalow to which we added a single storey rear extension under prior approval with no problems, permission was given in 2016. This extension is 6 meters out and just under 7m across with a max height of 3m. We submitted a full planning application to extend into loft with a small front dormer, hip to gable and rear box dormer. A porch was also showing on the plans. This was refused. We have started building under what we believe is PD, hip to gable, rear dormer, set back as it should be and no not more than 50cubic meters. However, I am really confused about Part B of the technical guidance for PD that states something about ant enlargement to dwelling house being taken into consideration for the loft volume limits. My question is, will a single storey extension on a bungalow count towards the loft volume? Or are they referring to roof space as in pitched roof extension? We have started building and I am so confused! There is a bungalow opposite that has received PD for a loft conversion and 3 meter extension which by our calculations would still take him over the cubic volume limit. Many thanks in advance.

We have an existing 3m tall garage/workshop which sits alongside the house but partially in front of the principle elevation. It is war-time era (probably built before the house in fact which is a 1960's bungalow) and constructed from concrete block walls with Asbestos roof sheeting.....yes I know the 'A' word!. For this reason as well as the fact it leaks and is an eye sore, we are looking to replace the roof with new trusses and tiles. Under permitted development we have read that, provided the various criteria is met, any outbuilding if fitted with a dual pitch roof can be 2.5m at the eaves and 4m at the peak. This is what we should like to install as the replacement, but we are unsure how PD applies to existing outbuildings and although we meet all the remaining criteria there is the issue that some of the garage does sit just in-front of the main dwelling. Has anyone had a similar scenario & have any useful knowledge they could share with us please?

We recently reclaimed PD rights and are looking to extend our terrible existing access driveway (so that we don't have to walk 60m just to get to our front door!). We'd look to extend the current gravel driveway over our own land, by cutting through the paddocks we own and then looping round to the front door. Qs/observations: the council are unlikely to view the paddocks as part of the curtilage of the dwelling house this means said paddocks are exempt from PD rights, I believe however, we have a huge amount of hardcore from a recent demolition if we simply lay said hardcore in a shallow trench, gravel it and run it through the paddocks is that lawful? Because the driveway doesn't contain any concrete and is not therefore "hard-standing" or is it simpler than that, and we can simply create said driveway extension, hard-standing - as it's on our land Here are two bits of conflicting advice from the council commenting on previous apps/pre apps: “the revised change to the existing driveway is within the site, and as such is considered acceptable…” (from officer report approving previous subtle alteration to driveway) “The above notwithstanding, whilst it is not entirely clear from your submitted drawings, it would appear as though the proposed new line of the access would go through part of the existing paddock area. From a quick look at the plans, although it is clearly within your ownership, I would be surprised if this paddock would be considered as legitimately forming part of the curtilage of your dwelling and, on this basis, the formation of a hardstanding/drive would almost certainly, in my opinion, require express planning permission from the Council as the paddock land would not benefit from permitted development rights. However, I should repeat this is only an informal view and does not represent a legal determination as to the need (or otherwise) for planning permission. “ (from pre app advice) Very much welcome any thoughts, would love not to have to do yet another council app.

Hi all, I've had some pretty amazing replies to previous posts and thought I'd best carry on picking your brains. Im building a garden room under the permitted development route. It's 2 skinned using concrete block. I've kept the dpc as low as possible but worrying about keeping the finished height within the 2500mm. Ive got french doors to go in that are 2130 including the cill which doesn't leave much for the flat roof. The flat roof including 100mm insulation, 2 sheets of ply, timbers to span 3400 and internal skin plus the required fall for a rubber roof. The dpc is about 120mm above ground level. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi guys, This is my first post and would appreciate some advice if anyone can help. My parents own an office building which they have been trying to sell but I have always had other plans for it and suggested making it in to flats as its such a large space. They had a buyer which has recently fell through and now they are finally considering converting it into flats. The positive from the situation is that the person who tried to buy the property had gained prior approval for Class O Permitted Development however, the plans he had were not what I had in mind and he wanted to make a HMO. So now we need to put another prior approval request in with new plans that match what we want. I have tried contacting the planning office numerous times but no response, i'm assuming due to Covid. I wanted to get a bit more info about what we can have under the Class O PD but don't want to pay for pre-planning advice if can be avoided due to cost and the time the council will take to reply. I have also looked at the legislation which is very vague and can't find anything on the internet. My question is, with Class O PD, can you keep part of the building as an office space and convert the rest in to flats without getting full planning permission? I have attached an original plan of the building and drawn on the other to show the flats and the office as I would like them. I believe you can have as many self contained flats as you want at any size under this PD but i'm just not sure about keeping part of the building as the same use class as the original. I hope someone has had some experience with this and can please help! Thanks Sam Office Original Plan.pdf Office Original Plan 2.pdf