Find out about your permitted development rights

I was chatting over the latest planning requirements for adding a conservatory onto a home with a professional surveyor, only to find there were a whole host of local authority planning rules and regulations that I was blissfully unaware of, and I’m in the trade! Given I read up about these things, it amazed me how many planning issues that now need to be checked out before determining whether or not a property needs some form of legal planning permission or not.

Here at Hazlemere Conservatories we advise that anyone considering building a conservatory onto their home should check out for themselves whether or not a) their property has permitted development rights, b) they have been withdrawn by their local planning authority and c) they have sufficient left to build a conservatory the size they require.

Obviously, we are more than happy to do this for a client (for a fee), but it is far quicker and less expensive for property owners to do this simple check themselves, partly because some local planning departments will not release this information to third parties. Also whilst some local authorities provide this service for free, most charge an administration fee of between £25 and £50 for this service. A property owner dealing direct with a local authority is usually dealt with far quicker than third parties like double glazing installers or developers, so if time is of the essence on a conservatory project it is advisable for home owners to deal direct with their local planning department.

As a very general rule of thumb, it is the newer and smaller sized properties that often have had their permitted development rights withdrawn, often as a trade off with a developer who just wants to build as many properties on a plot as possible, as planners then often don’t want any further extensions or development.

If adding a conservatory to a house that has already been extended, it is extremely likely one will need planning permission before commencing building works (or indeed ordering a conservatory, as most double glazing installers require a deposit). As long as a property has sufficient permitted development rights and the new conservatory is built on ground level less than 30 square metres in floor area, has an independent heating system, at least half of the new wall and three quarters of the roof is either glazed or translucent material, the conservatory is separated from the house by external quality door(s), glazing and any fixed electrical installations comply with the applicable building regulations requirements, then one is usually OK, but my strong advice is to check out all the other planning rules before making what can be an expensive mistake!
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