Class H antennas: size, number and siting limits
Class H of Part 1 allows up to two antennas on a house within stated size limits. Flats have no right at all, designated land restricts highway-facing positions, and listed buildings need consent.
Satellite dish permitted development limits for a house sit in Class H of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015. In outline: no more than two antennas on the dwellinghouse and within its curtilage taken together, each within a size limit measured excluding its mounting and brackets, nothing on a chimney in most designated areas, and nothing at all without permission if the building is a flat.
Most dishes on houses are lawful. The ones that cause trouble are the second dish added without counting the first, the dish fixed to a chimney in a conservation area, and anything on a listed building.
What Class H permits on a dwellinghouse
Class H allows the installation, alteration or replacement of an antenna on a dwellinghouse or within its curtilage, including on a building within that curtilage. Antenna covers satellite dishes and other microwave antennas.
The right belongs to dwellinghouses. A flat is not a dwellinghouse for the purposes of Part 1, so there is no Class H right for a flat or for a block of flats, and an antenna there needs planning permission unless the building operator has some other right. That catches a great many conversions where the owner assumes the house rules still apply.
Two conditions attach to the right whatever else is true. The antenna must be sited, so far as practicable, to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building. And it must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable when it is no longer needed for reception or transmission.
That removal condition is real and occasionally enforced. A dish left on a gable for a decade after the subscription lapsed is a breach of condition rather than a permitted antenna.
Number and size limits
The limits in Class H work on a count and a dimension. No more than two antennas are permitted on a dwellinghouse and within its curtilage combined, which means the dish on the house and the dish on the garage count together.
Size is measured as the longest dimension of the antenna, taken excluding any projecting feed element, reinforcing rim, mounting or brackets. On a building up to 15 metres in height the limit is 100 centimetres. Above 15 metres it rises to 130 centimetres. Where two antennas are installed, the second is held to a lower dimension than the first, so the common arrangement of two full size dishes is not permitted.
The exclusion for mountings is the part that gets misread in both directions. A dish measuring 95 centimetres across the reflector with a 20 centimetre feed arm is within the 100 centimetre limit, because the feed element is excluded. A dish measuring 110 centimetres across the reflector is not, whatever the bracket arrangement.
Read the class itself before relying on any summary, including this one, because the dimensions and the treatment of the second antenna are set out with precision in the Order and a paraphrase cannot carry it.
Siting on chimneys and roof slopes
A chimney mounting is permitted in principle on an undesignated site, within a lower size limit than a wall mounting and subject to the antenna not standing above the highest part of the chimney. The structural question is separate and is a building regulations and competence matter rather than a planning one.
On a roof slope the test is the general siting condition: minimise the effect on external appearance so far as practicable. In practice that means a rear slope rather than a front one where reception allows, and the officer's view will be that reception from a rear slope should have been tested before a front elevation dish was fitted.
Where the dish is on a chimney at the front of a house in a street of unaltered properties, expect a complaint and expect the council to ask whether a rear position would work.
Designated land restrictions
On article 2(3) land, which covers conservation areas, National Parks, National Landscapes, the Broads and World Heritage Sites, the restrictions tighten. An antenna is not permitted on a chimney, wall or roof slope that faces onto and is visible from a highway, and the right is withdrawn on buildings above a stated height.
So in a conservation area the answer is usually a rear mounting out of sight of the street, or a pole mounted dish in the back garden within the curtilage where that works for the signal. A dish on the front chimney of a terrace in a conservation area is not permitted development, and this is one of the more commonly enforced breaches because it is visible from the pavement.
An Article 4 direction can remove the Class H right altogether in a defined area, including outside designated land. Check the council's register before assuming the right exists, because the direction may cover householder rights generally rather than antennas specifically. The way those directions are made and confirmed is set out in how a council makes and confirms an Article 4 direction.
Height is measured from ground level, and the relevant ground level can matter on a sloping site. The convention is covered in measuring height under Part 1 from adjacent ground.
Listed buildings and the separate consent
Permitted development rights and listed building consent are different systems. Even where Class H permits the antenna, listed building consent is required for works affecting the character of a listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest, and fixing a dish into stonework or a slate roof will normally need it.
Works to a listed building without consent is a criminal offence under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, which puts it in a different category from an ordinary planning breach. Where consent is needed, the application will want a short Heritage Statement explaining the significance of the building, the position chosen, the fixing method and why a less harmful option was rejected.
The curtilage of a listed building is also caught. A dish on an outbuilding within the curtilage of a listed house can require consent even though the outbuilding is not separately listed.
Removal when no longer needed
The condition requires removal as soon as reasonably practicable once the antenna is no longer needed. Nothing requires the council to notice, and in practice most old dishes stay up.
Two situations make it live. A property sale where a buyer's solicitor raises the planning position, and a complaint about appearance in a conservation area. Taking a redundant dish down before either happens avoids a conversation about whether the installation was permitted in the first place.
Where permission is required
Apply for planning permission where any of the following is true: the building is a flat, a third antenna is proposed, the dimension limit is exceeded, the position is on a highway-facing chimney, wall or roof slope on article 2(3) land, or an Article 4 direction has removed the right.
The application is a householder one and the material is short: a location plan, an elevation showing the antenna's position and size, a photograph of the elevation as existing, and a brief statement explaining why the chosen position is the least harmful one that works for reception. And where the property is listed or in a conservation area, add the heritage material. Mentioning that a rear position was tested and did not work, with a sentence on why, answers the first question an officer will ask. Where a Planning Statement is wanted alongside the drawings, the Planning Statement page explains what one covers.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Class H carries limits and conditions in a form that only the Order itself states accurately, and local designations change the position, so check with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. A lawful development certificate under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the only formal way to confirm that an installation is lawful.
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Frequently asked questions
How many satellite dishes can a house have?
No more than two antennas on the dwellinghouse and within its curtilage taken together, under Class H of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015. A dish on the house and a dish on a garage count towards the same total, and the second is held to a lower size limit than the first.
How is a dish measured for the size limit?
By its longest dimension, excluding any projecting feed element, reinforcing rim, mounting or brackets. On a building up to 15 metres high the limit is 100 centimetres, rising to 130 centimetres above that height. A reflector wider than the limit is outside the right regardless of how it is mounted.
Can I put a dish on my house in a conservation area?
Usually at the rear. On article 2(3) land, which includes conservation areas, National Parks, National Landscapes, the Broads and World Heritage Sites, an antenna is not permitted on a chimney, wall or roof slope facing onto and visible from a highway. A pole mounted dish in the rear garden is often the practical answer.
Do flats have permitted development rights for antennas?
No. Part 1 rights apply to dwellinghouses, and a flat is not a dwellinghouse for those purposes, so Class H does not apply. An antenna on a flat or a block of flats needs planning permission. This catches many conversions where owners assume the rules that applied to the original house still apply.
Does a dish on a listed building need consent?
Normally yes. Listed building consent is a separate system from permitted development, and fixing an antenna into stonework, brick or a slate roof affects the character of the building. Carrying out such works without consent is a criminal offence, and the curtilage of a listed building is caught as well.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.