What am I allowed to build within Permitted Development?

Permitted Development rights allow you to carry certain building works and alterations without needing planning permission. These typically include modest extensions, loft conversions, and the erections of outbuildings. However, it is essential that specific conditions and limitations are met, in relation to size, design, impact on neighbours and local environment. Anything outside these limits will usually require a Planning Application.

Permitted Development: The Facts

• Permitted Development rights are not subjective
• You either have the right to build, or you don’t
• You can either add space or you can’t
• Neighbours do not have the right to object
• Planners cannot influence your project

In most cases you’ll discover that with Permitted Development Rights, you can now add a Loft Conversion, Garden Office or Home Extension without obtaining planning permission. Permitted Development Rights are completely legal, are unlikely to require any consultation with either your neighbours or local planners, and once checked, will mean you are issued with a Certificate of Lawful Development by the Council.

We sometimes find that, if Permitted Development is a suitable route for you, you can do far more under the rules of Permitted Development than if you had gone down the route of a Planning Application.  This could mean that your Outbuilding, Loft or Extension could be larger than you had anticipated, saving you time and money, and enabling you to do more with your home than you thought.

Are there any restrictions?

In certain cases, there are restrictions on a property’s Permitted Development Rights, for example with Listed Properties or homes situated within Conservation Areas or National Landscapes (formally Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty).  In all cases, we will explore your Permitted Development Rights, and the majority of our clients are surprised by just how much freedom they actually have.

Of course, if planning permission is needed, at HollandGreen we have a dedicated Planning Manager, and wealth of experience and planning contacts, to enable us to deal with a vast variety of Planning and Permitted Development Applications. Leave all the paperwork to our team and we will do our utmost to get you permission as swiftly, and efficiently as possible.

For government guidance on householder permitted development, which allow improvement and extension of homes without the need for a planning application, click here