A guide to getting planning permission
We are offering you a guide to getting planning permission – something which can be a daunting area. Planning your home extension needs a lot of thought – the design from a good architect and the right builder can take a while to get right – but it is worth the effort. We want to guide you through the various stages of the planning process and provide you with the advice that may be required for your home extension to begin. In most cases all stages have to be completed before any building work can start.
Is Planning Permission Needed?
Developments by corporations and the public need to be allowed in some cases to ensure that towns prosper and grow. However, strict control of this development must be maintained to ensure that the character and amenity of the area is not adversely affected. Not all developments need planning permission – changes that do not affect the external appearance of a building do not require official permission. Also small changes to the outside of a building may not need permission. This ensures that house owners maintain a certain amount of freedom when making improvements to their property.
Before starting your plans
Before embarking on any form of extension to your property, speak to your neighbours. There are two main reasons for this: ensuring that disagreements do not occur between you and your neighbours with regards to such issues as loss of light, and also to ensure that your neighbours are agreeable to any access that may be required via their property during the building works.
Neighbours and extensions
If your planned extension does require planning permission, your neighbours will be informed by the Council, and therefore it is advisable to give them prior notice.
Try looking at your local council’s website, some of them are very informative.
Planning Application
The first stage is to check whether or not you actually need planning permission and there are plenty of sites which guide you on this, including your local planning authority.
Building Regulations
Building Regulations is an extra permission that you need that a lot of people don’t actually know about. Have a look at the Building Regulations page to see exactly what they are and how to get permission.
Listed Buildings & Conservation Areas
People who live in Listed Buildings or in areas of conservation often need extra permissions before building an extension. If you are one of these people you will need to find out more before you start.
Think carefully before considering producing the building plans yourself as there are hoops you need to jump through to satisfy a planning committee. We recommend using an architect and can also point you in the right direction. After this – it’s time to find a reputable builder – like us!
