Development without permission
Permitted Development Rights deal with forms of development that do not necessarily require planning permission. Although there are various forms of PDR's covering different classes of land use, from a domestic point of view they generally refer to minor extension work provided certain conditions are met.
Important changes to the planning system came into effect from 1 October 2008, which gives more freedom to people wanting to carry out improvements to their homes.
Generally speaking it means that in certain circumstances, you can carry out minor extensions and alterations to your property without the need to apply for formal permission. Here is a much simlified set of rules in order to make the general principles easy to understand.
Permitted Development
Rear and side extensions
Permission to build a single storey rear extension up to 4m (in the case of a detached house) or 3m (in the case of any other house) out from the rear wall of the original house.
Permission to build a 2-storey rear extension up to 3m behind the rear wall of the existing house, but not extending closer than 7m from the rear boundary of the property.
Permission to build a single storey side extension not exceeding 4m in height, no wider than half the width of the original house and which does not front a highway.
Please also bear in mind that Local Authorities can remove permitted development rights by agreement. This is sometimes done as part of the planning consent process and therefore the planning history of the land must be considered.
Maximum Volume
Loft conversions and other roof extensions
Put simply, loft conversions will not require planning permission where : The volume of the roof space is not increased by more than 40 cubic meters in the case of a terraced house or 50 cubic meters in any other case.
- They do not extend beyond the plane of the existing roof slope which forms the main elevation of the house fronting the highway and
any enlargement, except of hip-to-gable construction, must be set back at least 20cm from the eaves, so as to avoid an entire roof being replaced.
There is an interactive illustration of the rules at www.planningportal.gov.uk which may be helpful but does not cover every possible scenario.
Finally, even though you will not require Planning Permission if you fall into one of the above categories, Building Control Approval may still be necessary.