Planning Permission May Not Be Necessary

It is not necessary to seek planning permission for all improvements you plan to make to your home. The types of work you are allowed to undertake on your home which don’t require planning permission are defined by the Town and Country Planning Order 2015 as ‘Permitted Development’. Some work may only require ‘prior notification’ rather than full planning permission.

Pre-Application

Before starting to build on your property it is wise to ask your council’s planning service whether your project will need planning permission. There may be statutory and non-statutory designations that affect your property which may influence whether you need to seek planning permission. Examples include:

• Your property is subject to an Article 4 direction restricting permitted development rights in a certain area or site.
• Your property is on a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) or a conservation area.
• Your property is registered as being of “special architectural or historic interest”.

Your local council may seek a fee for providing you with pre-application advice. They may also ask you to provide some cursory details of the extension you intend to build on your property such as its design, size and position. DWG Plans Ltd can provide such design work.

The planning officer at the local council may give you his/her informal opinion on whether your proposal agrees with the council’s planning policies laid out in its development plan. The planning officer’s advice may cover issues such as the design of your proposal, the materials you plan to use and the scale of the development. The officer may also suggest how your proposal can be changed so that it is more likely to be approved. However, be aware that this does not guarantee that you will receive planning permission as interested parties and neighbours must be notified and consulted first.

For that reason, it is recommended that you discuss your ideas with your neighbours as they are likely to be informed of your planning application. Speaking early with the Planning Authority and your neighbours to discover any concerns may save time and work later in the long run.

Covenants

In some instances, a covenant on your land or building may resist its future use. This particularly occurs with new builds, where a set time before amendments/modifications can be done to your property. Unfortunately, a covenant cannot be ignored or removed unless it’s done by agreement, discharged by the Lands Tribunal or the land comes into single ownership. As covenants are separate legally to planning, gaining planning permission will not remove the covenant and you may still be unable to implement the planning permission until the covenant is removed.

Call DWG Plans on 0800 688 9345 or get in touch online today.