The Importance Of Planning Permission And When You Need It

Visual wouldn’t dream of building a conservatory or orangery on behalf of a customer until we were absolutely certain that the extension complied with planning laws. To do otherwise would be completely irresponsible and could potentially land a customer in serious trouble if it were later discovered that their new conservatory or orangery fell short of the relevant rules.

There can be no excuse for ruffling the feathers of your local planning department as the guidelines for conservatories and orangeries are very clear.

When the extension meets the criteria to be considered a ‘Permitted Development’, no application for planning permission needs to be submitted.

A single-storey extension or multi-storey extension will enjoy Permitted Development Rights if it observes the following rules:

Single-storey extensions

• it’s located at the back of the house
• it doesn’t go back further than 3 metres if it’s a terraced house, or 4 metres if it isn’t
• the height of the eaves (where the wall meets the roof) is no higher than 3 metres
• it’s not higher than 4 metres, including sloping roofs
• it doesn’t cover more floor area than your house does
• it doesn’t take up half the ‘curtilage’ – the grounds behind your home
• it isn’t within a conservation area

Multi-storey extensions

• it’s located at the back of the house
• there’s at least 10 metres between the extension and the boundaries of your grounds
• it isn’t higher than your house (excluding chimneys)
• it doesn’t cover more floor area than your original house does
• it doesn’t take up half the ‘curtilage’ – the grounds behind your home
• it isn’t within a conservation area

Anything that isn’t a Permitted Development will require planning permission. Visual can take charge of organising the paperwork involved and then submit it to your local authority.

The current cost of a planning application is £206 in England and it will take around 8-13 weeks to find out if the application has been successful.

As a precautionary note, the extension may also need building regulations approval, in addition to planning permission, but again, this is something that can be clarified by Visual.

Our Helpful Guides page includes a FREE downloadable document about Planning Permission. Give it a read for more information about this vital subject.