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in protected or sensitive environments means that the GPDO provides for some permitted development rights to be withdrawn or limited in certain circumstances: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.