Householder Extensions and Conversions – Page 9
Design and policy detail for extensions, lofts, garden rooms, garages, porches and driveways.
Householder Extensions and Conversions articles – page 9
251 articlesInternal alterations and when planning is not engaged
Section 55(2)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 puts works affecting only the interior of a building outside planning control. Four exceptions pull them back in, and listed buildings sit outside the rule entirely.
Removing a bay window and the principal elevation
Taking a bay off the front of a house is development. Class A usually covers it, until an Article 4 direction, a conservation area or a listing gets in the way.
Bin and bike stores in a front garden
Class E excludes anything forward of the principal elevation, so a front garden bin store needs permission. A low open enclosure may be a different matter.
Electric vehicle charge points and the front garden
A home charger is usually permitted development. Getting power across a public footway to a car parked on the street is the part that needs a separate consent.
Solar panels on a house under Part 14 of the GPDO
Class A of Part 14 allows solar panels on most houses, but the 200 millimetre projection limit and the protected land wall restriction catch a lot of installations.
Juliet balconies against full balconies in Class A terms
The line is whether there is somewhere outside the wall to stand. Guarding across a first-floor opening is usually permitted development, and a balcony always needs permission.
Loft conversions in a bungalow and the volume trap
Class B allows no part of the roof to exceed the existing ridge, and gives 50 cubic metres in total. On a wide hipped bungalow, two hip to gable ends and a dormer go straight past it.
Basements under an existing house and Class A
Class A says nothing about depth, yet digging a basement under your house almost always needs planning permission. Here is why, and how a cellar conversion differs.
Eaves, ridge heights and the 2 metre boundary rule
Three height limits govern most permitted development rear extensions, and all of them turn on where you measure from. Sloping ground, flat roof build-ups and made-up levels explained.
Larger home extensions: the neighbour consultation scheme
The larger home extension route allows 6 or 8 metre single storey rear extensions subject to neighbour consultation. What to notify, what the council may consider, and how to handle an objection.
Garden offices and the incidental use test
A garden office is permitted development only while its use stays incidental to the house. Where the line falls, what tips a home business over it, and how to get the position confirmed.
Porches: the 3 square metre and 2 metre limits
Class D allows a porch of up to 3 square metres measured externally, no more than 3 metres high and no closer than 2 metres to the highway boundary. Most front porches fail the last one.
Side extensions and the half the width test
Class A allows a side extension only if it is single storey, within 4 metres in height and no wider than half the original house. The half width test is the one that catches people.
Rear dormers and the 40 and 50 cubic metre allowances
Class B gives a terrace house 40 cubic metres of roof addition and other houses 50, measured against the original roof. The eaves set back, side glazing and article 2(3) land catch more dormers than the volume figure.
Extending a house that has already been extended
Extension allowances are measured against the house as it stood in 1948 or as first built, so work by previous owners counts against you. Here is how to establish the original footprint and calculate what remains.
Obscure glazing conditions and how they are enforced
Side windows built under permitted development must be obscure glazed and non-opening below 1.7 metres above the internal floor. Breaching that takes the whole extension outside the right, not just the window.
Solar panels on a house: limits and listed buildings
Roof solar on a house is usually permitted development under Class A of Part 14, subject to a 0.2 metre projection limit and the ridge rule. Listed buildings need separate consent, and unauthorised works are a criminal offence.
Garden office planning: where incidental use ends
Section 55(2)(d) of the 1990 Act keeps most home working outside the planning system. Employees, client visits, signage and separate letting are what push a garden office over into a material change of use.
Chimney removal and the character of a terrace
Taking a stack off a roof changes the external appearance of the house and breaks the rhythm of a terrace. Consent, structure and flue ventilation are three separate problems.
Rendering or cladding a house: when permission is needed
The similar appearance condition in Class A is why most render and cladding schemes need a planning application, and external wall insulation adds a thickness problem on top of it.
Two storey rear extensions: the 3 metre and 7 metre limits
Two storey rear extensions are treated far more tightly than single storey ones under Class A. The 7 metre boundary rule defeats most suburban gardens, and there is no prior approval route around it.
Extending a flat: why householder rights do not apply
Schedule 2 Part 1 of the GPDO 2015 grants rights to a dwellinghouse, and that definition excludes flats. Here is what a flat owner has to submit instead, and which consents run alongside the planning application.
Dropped kerbs and vehicle crossovers: two consents
Two separate consents, two separate decisions. When planning permission is required, what the dimensional tests are, and the sequence that wastes least money.
Hard surfaces in front gardens and the drainage condition
Class F allows front garden paving, subject to a drainage condition that bites above 5 square metres. What satisfies it, and what happens to the tree.
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