Permitted Development Legislation -
Oct. 1st 2008.
As of 1st October 2008 new
legislation came into force which affects the permitted
development rights of domestic properties, most Councils
have produced a set of guidance notes to assist you with
these changes. Advice that you have been given in the
past on permitted development structures or alterations
may no longer apply under the current rules. Please check
with each Local Authority Planning Dept. first as you may
need clarification.
In certain cases, a dwelling can be
enlarged, improved or altered without the need for planning
permission, subject to certain criteria (usually dimensional
and siting). These rights are called permitted development
rights. The regulations on permitted development are very
complicated and it is always recommended that you seek advice
from the Planning Section of your Local Authority on whether
what you intend to do requires permission or not.
Confirmation of Permitted Development
If you require formal confirmation of whether or not
permission would be required for your proposed work, then you
may submit details of your proposals to your own local
Authority Planning Dept. to allow them to take a view but you
may find resistance to this informal approach or you may be
asked to pay a fee.
If no permission is required, you should retain the letter
as proof of this but remember it will be full of caveats and it
is non binding on the part of the Council. A more formal
approach would be to utilise the Certificate of Lawful
Development application route where the Councils decision is
legally binding if the issue the Certificate. There is a fee of
half the current Planning fee for this service and it will take
the Council between 6 and 8 weeks to respond.
Download a pdf
guide for Permitted Development
Legislation...
guidance on permitted development
legislation
Submitting the Details
You will also need to include a scaled drawing or sketch,
with all the relevant measurements. Metric units should be used
throughout.
While the basic aim of permitted development rights is to
exclude relatively minor development proposals from planning
controls, the need to control any significant impact of even
minor development in protected or sensitive environments means
that the GPDO provides for some permitted development rights to
be withdrawn or limited in certain circumstances:
- in conservation areas, and certain other specified or
designated areas such as National Parks, AONBs and sites of
archaeological interest;
- by conditions, exclusions and limitations applying to
specific rights within each Part of Schedule 1 of the
GPDO;
- through Articles in the GPDO, including Article 4 and
Article 6, which give the Department powers to remove
permitted development rights, and Article 3 which removes
permitted development rights for development where an
Environmental Impact Assessment is required;
- in a few Parts of Schedule 1 of the GPDO, by requiring
prior approval or notification of some of the details of
permitted development proposals to be provided and
determined by the Planning Service.
Also, permitted development rights can be removed outside
the GPDO through conditions attached to a previous planning
permission on the site.
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