Householder Extensions and Conversions – Page 2
Design and policy detail for extensions, lofts, garden rooms, garages, porches and driveways.
Householder Extensions and Conversions articles – page 2
251 articlesHouseholder applications where Article 4 applies
An Article 4 direction withdraws a permitted development right, it does not ban the work. Here is how to read the schedule and apply without a fee.
Decking and raised platforms in a garden
The 300 millimetre raised platform threshold decides whether garden decking needs permission. Here is how it is measured and what an application must show.
Replacing windows: when it is development at all
A like for like window swap is usually not development. Changing material, opening pattern or glazing bars can be, and flats and listed buildings follow different rules.
Dormer windows on a front roof slope
Class B of Part 1 excludes work extending beyond a roof slope that forms the principal elevation and fronts a highway. Both limbs must apply, so a few front slopes can still take a dormer.
Annexes for a dependent relative and the planning unit
An annexe for a relative is lawful as part of the house while it remains ancillary. Access, kitchen provision, garden division and separate services decide whether a second planning unit has been created.
Outbuildings under Class E and the 2.5 metre rule
Class E of Part 1 caps a garden building at 2.5 metres overall if any part sits within 2 metres of the curtilage boundary. Here is how the height, eaves and 50 per cent coverage limits are measured.
Side infill extensions between the bay and the boundary
A side infill is usually permitted development if it stays single storey, within half the width of the original house, and under three metre eaves at the boundary. The roof is what usually fails.
Outbuildings near a boundary and the 2.5 metre limit
Class E caps outbuilding height at 2.5 metres within two metres of any boundary, measured from the highest adjacent ground. The coverage test, the front garden exclusion and the raised platform rule.
A dropped kerb alongside an extension application
The crossing is authorised by the highway authority under the Highways Act 1980, not by the planning officer. Here is how the two applications interact when you are also building an extension.
Front walls, railings and the one metre highway limit
A front wall or railing adjacent to a road is capped at one metre under Part 2 Class A. Measuring on sloping ground, gates, listed curtilage and the hedge alternative.
Side infill extensions and the neighbour's window
Infilling a side return builds a wall where the neighbour had sky. The daylight tests, the boundary detailing, the party wall notices and the drawings that get it approved.
Loft conversion using rooflights only: what the rules allow
Class C of the GPDO permits rooflights in a dwellinghouse roof where they project no more than 150 millimetres beyond the original slope. Here is how that interacts with head height, stairs, fire escape and conservation areas.
An annexe for a dependent relative and its conditions
Separate metered supplies, a separate gate and a fenced garden turn an annexe into a second dwelling. What to show on the plans, and which condition wording to ask for.
Garden rooms as home offices and the incidental use limit
Class E allows buildings incidental to the enjoyment of a dwellinghouse. Where a home office crosses into a separate use, and the height and boundary limits that catch most garden rooms.
Matching brick and mortar conditions and how to discharge them
A matching materials condition is a second design decision, not paperwork. What the wording means, why mortar matters more than the brick, and how to discharge it.
Hip to gable loft conversions and roof form objections
Class B names hip to gable work directly, so it can be permitted development. The volume allowance is what stops most schemes, and the design objection to losing a hipped pair is what decides the application that follows.
Front doors and fanlights in a conservation area
Door replacement is the permitted development right most often removed by an Article 4 direction in a conservation area. What officers look at, and how to evidence a case from the street rather than from your own door.
Opening up a rear wall: steel beams, planning and party walls
Planning controls what the new rear elevation looks like, building control signs off the beam, and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 governs bearings in a shared wall. Three timetables, run in parallel.
Rainwater goods and eaves detailing on an extension
The eaves detail decides whether an extension stays inside the permitted development height limits, whether anything overhangs the neighbour, and where the water goes.
Solar panels on a front roof slope: the planning rules
Panels on a front roof slope are usually permitted development in England. What decides it is the 0.2 metre protrusion limit, ridge height, listed status and whether an Article 4 direction applies.
Losing a garden tree to build an extension
Root protection areas, Tree Preservation Orders and conservation area notices decide where an extension can go. The lower cost geometric fixes, and the consent route for removal.
Oil tanks, gas cylinders and bin stores in a front garden
Class E of the GPDO 2015 covers heating oil containers and bin stores, but not on land forward of the principal elevation. What the limits are, and what a frontage application has to show.
Decking, garden levels and the 300 millimetre rule
The General Permitted Development Order defines a raised platform as one more than 0.3m high, and excludes raised platforms from both Class A and Class E. Above that line you are making an application whatever the deck is made of.
Internal alterations to a listed house and consent
Listing covers the inside of the building as well as the outside, so removing an internal wall needs consent. Plan form, chimney breasts and original staircases are where most refusals happen.
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