Project Type Guides
How to get planning permission for extensions, conversions, new builds and commercial uses.
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267 articlesPlanning permission for a dog exercise field for hire
Renting a field to dog owners by the hour is a material change of use. The fence height, barking noise and lane access decide whether it is approved.
Consenting a betting shop or adult gaming centre
Betting offices and adult gaming centres sit outside the use classes, so an application is always required. Local clustering policy and frontage treatment decide the outcome.
Consenting a live music venue and the agent of change test
Live music venues are sui generis and the agent of change principle decides who bears the mitigation cost. Low frequency sound insulation and patron dispersal are what the case turns on.
Consenting an anaerobic digestion plant on a farm
An on-farm anaerobic digestion plant needs planning permission and an environmental permit. Where the feedstock comes from and where the energy goes decides how the use is characterised.
Planning permission for a riding school and indoor arena
Keeping horses commercially falls outside the agricultural exemption, so a riding school and its covered arena need express permission. Access visibility, arena scale and manure storage usually decide the case.
Getting permission to rebuild a scout hut or community hall
The principle of rebuilding a hall is usually accepted. What gets argued about is the increase in size, the trees in the grounds, evening parking and how long the permission lasts.
Planning permission for floodlighting at a sports club
Two numbers decide a floodlighting application: vertical illuminance at the nearest residential window and the hour the lights go off. Taller columns usually reduce spill, and the objection is rarely only about light.
Getting permission for a replacement beach hut
Householder permitted development rights do not reach a hut on a promenade, so a replacement needs permission, landowner consent and sometimes a marine licence. Same footprint is the easy application.
Planning permission for a gym in a vacant retail unit
Shops and indoor fitness both sit in Class E, so the use change is not development. What decides a gym conversion is an old retail condition, structure-borne noise from free weights, and the works to the shopfront.
Planning permission for a zip wire course in woodland
A woodland zip wire course needs full planning permission, and the case turns on ancient woodland status, what the anchors and platforms do to the trees, and whether the access can take visitor traffic.
Permission for housing on a car showroom site
A car showroom redevelops on its contamination report. Staging the intrusive investigation around demolition is what determines the programme.
Permission for a rooftop extension to a car park
Development above a multi storey car park stands or falls on column and foundation capacity. Get the intrusive structural appraisal done before anything else is commissioned.
Permission for a restaurant terrace on the pavement
Removable tables on the public footway need a pavement licence. A terrace on your own forecourt is a planning matter. Most disputes come down to where the highway edge sits.
Permission for new gates and railings to a listed house
Boundary structures at a listed house are usually part of the listing, and permitted development rights for means of enclosure do not apply within the curtilage. Both consents are needed.
Permission for a basement cinema under a listed house
A basement under a listed building needs listed building consent, a structural method statement and usually a basement impact assessment. The statutory duty on harm decides most of these cases.
Tennis court permission in a National Landscape
The playing surface can be made to disappear. A three metre enclosure in open countryside cannot, which is why fence colour, height and extent decide most tennis court applications in a National Landscape.
Planning permission for a farm micro distillery
A working still is a general industrial use, which rules out the agricultural conversion shortcuts. Odour abatement, trade effluent and HMRC approval of the spirit store shape the application more than policy does.
Planning permission for a rowing club boathouse
Boathouse applications turn on whether the building counts as water-compatible development. That classification keeps a functional floodplain site arguable, and the brief is what puts it at risk.
Permission for a street food market in a car park
A regular street food market needs permission, because the temporary use allowance for markets is only 14 days a year. Ask for a fixed term and build a record.
Permission for a GP surgery extension
A surgery extension is a full planning application, and parking decides most of them. How to model demand from the appointment system and handle plant and waste.
Permission to convert a hotel to residential use
There is no permitted development route from Class C1 to Class C3. A hotel conversion turns on the policy protecting visitor accommodation and the evidence it demands.
Permission to redevelop a petrol filling station
A former filling station is a contaminated land project with a planning application attached. Here is the order to do the work in, from preliminary risk assessment through tank removal to the verification report.
Permission to convert a chapel to a house
A chapel conversion is decided by whether the interior volume survives the insertion of floors and whether a burial ground lies in the curtilage. Here is the order to do the work in, and the detailing that gets consent.
Permission to convert a water tower to a dwelling
A water tower conversion is a full application, and bats and curtilage decide it. Here is the order to commission the work, the survey window that sets the programme and the design approach that gets consented.
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