Permitted Development – Page 9
GPDO classes, limits, conditions, prior approval and Article 4 directions explained.
Permitted Development articles – page 9
279 articlesHow prior approval works and what deemed consent means
Prior approval is not planning permission. It is a condition attached to a right the Order has already granted, and that difference decides what happens when the council misses its deadline.
Upward extensions of blocks and terraces under Part 20
Part 20 upward extension rights turn on building type, construction date and excluded land. Here is how the limits are measured and what prior approval covers.
Telecoms masts and cabinets under Part 16
Part 16 lets code operators install masts and cabinets with a prior approval limited to siting and appearance. Here is how the process works and where objections land.
Class L and switching between C3 and C4 housing
Class L permits movement between a dwellinghouse and a small HMO without an application. Article 4 directions remove it in most university towns, in one direction only.
Class Q prior approval and the practicality test
Class Q assumes you are starting with a building capable of becoming a house. Whether the works amount to conversion or rebuild decides most refusals, and the structural appraisal decides that.
Class C roof alterations and the 150mm rule in practice
Class C covers alterations that stay close to the roof plane, and unlike Class B it is not switched off in conservation areas. Flat roof lanterns are where it usually fails.
Class B loft conversions: measuring the volume allowance
The allowance is 40 cubic metres for a terrace house and 50 for anything else, measured externally against the original roof. Earlier dormers count against it, whoever built them.
Permitted development on land near an aerodrome
Aerodrome safeguarding cuts the agricultural permitted development height limit from 12 metres to 3 metres within three kilometres of the perimeter, and adds consultation duties for solar, telecoms, lighting and drainage.
Repairs to private ways and unadopted roads
Resurfacing a rutted track between its existing hedges is maintenance. Widening it, extending it or building a new spur is not, and that is where enforcement starts.
When silence from the council counts as prior approval
If the council does not notify you within the period the GPDO sets, you may build what you described. Silence does not cure a scheme that was never permitted development.
What counts as curtilage for permitted development
Almost every householder permitted development right is expressed as something you may build within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse. Two neighbours with identical title plans can have different curtilages.
Conditions and limitations that defeat permitted development
A condition imposed on a permission years ago can withdraw permitted development rights across a whole estate. Nobody has to tell a purchaser, so the check belongs in the first hour of the job.
New flats above shops under Part 20 permitted development
Part 20 allows up to two extra storeys of flats over a commercial building, but the date window, the terrace height rule and the ground floor entrance defeat more schemes than the policy does.
Prior approval for the method of demolition
Part 11 prior approval is not a decision on whether a building should come down. It covers the method of demolition and what the cleared site will look like afterwards.
Temporary campsites under Part 4 Class BB
Class BB of Part 4 allows a temporary recreational campsite subject to prior approval. The day and pitch limits, the excluded land, what the council assesses and the licensing that runs alongside.
Painting a house: when a repaint needs permission
Class C of the GPDO permits exterior painting, with one exception for advertisement. Article 4 directions and listed building consent are the two other reasons a repaint needs permission.
Part 14 Class J: solar panels on commercial roofs
Rooftop solar on a commercial building is permitted development under Class J, subject to projection limits and prior approval for siting, design and glare on neighbouring occupiers.
Class S: an agricultural building as a school or nursery
Class S converts an agricultural building to a state-funded school or registered nursery under prior approval. The state-funded requirement and the 500 square metre cap explain why it is used so rarely.
Part 20 upward extensions: new flats on top of a block
Part 20 of the GPDO 2015 permits additional storeys on a detached block of flats through prior approval rather than a planning application. Here are the qualifying tests, the prior approval matters, and the airspace and building safety issues that decide these schemes.
Class AA of Part 1: adding storeys to a detached house
Class AA of Schedule 2 Part 1 of the GPDO 2015 permits up to two additional storeys on a house, subject to prior approval. Here are the exclusions, the height limits, the matters a council can refuse on and the evidence required.
What original dwellinghouse means in the GPDO
Permitted development allowances are measured from the house as it stood in 1948, or as first built. Extensions by earlier owners count against you, and here is how to prove the original footprint.
The 56 day prior approval deadline and deemed consent
If the council does not notify you within 56 days, you may build in accordance with the details submitted. What makes the clock start, what deemed consent carries and how to prove it.
Ground and water source heat pumps under Part 14
The planning rights for ground and water source heat pumps are the easy part. Abstraction licences, environmental permits, designated land and ground disturbance are what actually hold a rural scheme up.
Part 11 demolition: prior approval of method and restoration
Part 11 permits demolition subject to prior approval of the method and the restoration of the site. What to submit, how the 28 day period works, and the Building Act notice that runs alongside.
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