Project Type Guides – Page 7
How to get planning permission for extensions, conversions, new builds and commercial uses.
Project Type Guides articles – page 7
269 articlesPlanning permission for a residential mooring or houseboat
The boat is rarely the planning problem, the mooring is. How change of use, navigation authority consent, flood risk and services decide whether a residential mooring works.
Traveller site planning applications: policy, need and evidence
A traveller site application is decided on the planning definition in Annex 1 of Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, the district's unmet pitch need and the criteria in the adopted plan. Here is how to evidence each one.
Setting up a mobile catering unit on private land
The planning question is about the land, not the vehicle. When a pitch becomes a material change of use, and the three separate consents a trader needs.
Turning a redundant church into homes
A church conversion turns on four things: the loss of a community use, what listed building consent allows inside, what lies under the churchyard, and bats in the roof.
A mezzanine floor in a retail or industrial unit
Internal works are usually outside the definition of development, but a retail mezzanine creating more than 200 m2 is not. What that changes, and what else a mezzanine triggers.
Planning permission for a commercial EV charging hub
Part 2 permitted development covers chargepoints in existing car parks, not purpose-built hubs. Grid connection, queuing and charger noise decide most commercial applications.
Adding storeys to a block of flats by full application
Class AA upward extension rights stop at conservation areas, height limits and converted blocks. A full application costs more and buys design freedom, if the foundations allow it.
Planning permission for student accommodation schemes
PBSA sits outside the Use Classes Order, so the permission is tightly drawn. How to evidence need, set room standards and negotiate the nomination obligation.
Planning permission for a wedding venue in a barn
Noise, the lane and the number of events decide a barn wedding venue application. How to build the case and propose the conditions before the council does.
Converting a barn to a house by full application
Where prior approval under Class Q is unavailable, a full application decides a barn conversion on policy, structural capability and design. This is what to submit.
Subdividing a house plot to build a second dwelling
A new dwelling in an existing garden is judged against the pattern of the street. Here are the tests officers apply, the constraints that kill plots, and how refusals are worded.
Planning permission for secure cycle parking and a cycle hub
Cycle parking applications turn on dimensions rather than policy. Stand spacing, aisle widths, larger cycle allowances and what changes when a unit becomes a cycle hub.
Planning permission for a cemetery or burial ground
A cemetery or churchyard extension stands or falls on the Environment Agency's groundwater assessment. What the separation criteria cover, how to time the ground investigation and what else the application needs.
Planning permission for a GP surgery or health centre
Health centres sit in Class E(e), so moving into an existing Class E unit is not development. The application turns on parking numbers, step-free access, waste storage and plant noise.
Planning permission for a school expansion
School expansions have strong policy support and two hard constraints: the playing field that Sport England protects, and the twenty minutes at the school gate that the highway authority worries about.
Planning permission for extra care or retirement housing
Older persons accommodation sits on a line between a care home and a block of flats. Which side it falls determines affordable housing, levy liability and space standards, and the evidence is the care model.
Planning permission for a hand car wash
Car washing sits outside the use classes, so almost every hand car wash needs planning permission. The application turns on where the wash water goes, how loud the equipment is and whether cars queue on the highway.
Planning permission for a vehicle repair garage or MOT centre
Vehicle repair is normally Class B2, outside Class E, so the change of use needs permission. The decisive issues are noise, extraction, vehicle storage and waste oil.
Planning permission for a gym in an industrial unit
Class B2 and B8 sit outside Class E, so a gym conversion needs permission. The decisive issues are employment land policy and impact noise from dropped weights.
Planning permission for a day nursery or creche
Class E(f) covers nurseries, so the use often needs no permission at all. The real arguments are drop-off parking at fixed peaks and how noise from outdoor play is assessed.
Planning permission for a glamping or holiday lodge site
Siting pods or lodges on a field is a material change of use. Here is how the countryside location test, the temporary use allowances, drainage and occupancy conditions decide these applications.
How to get planning permission for a community workshop
Whether a community workshop is a meeting place or a light industrial use decides the application. How to settle the use class and answer the noise, extraction, parking and storage questions councils raise.
How to get planning permission for modular classrooms
Schools have limited permitted development rights for extra accommodation, and most modular classroom schemes exceed them. What a temporary permission involves, when Sport England must be consulted, and which documents the council expects.
How to get planning permission for a gym in a railway arch
A gym is Class E(d). Whether you need permission depends on what the arch was before. After that, structure-borne noise from weight drops is the issue that decides the application.
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