Most people assume that any building work on their home requires planning permission. Most people are wrong — and that assumption costs them time and money they did not need to spend. Permitted development rights allow a significant range of improvements to your home without applying to the council. But the rules are not simple, and the exceptions are numerous.
Most houses in England have full permitted development rights. But rights can be removed or restricted by: Article 4 Directions (issued by a local authority removing specific PD rights in an area), conservation areas (automatically reducing PD rights for certain works visible from highways), listed buildings (PD rights do not apply), conditions on previous planning permissions (common on new-build estates), and flats and maisonettes (householder PD rights apply only to houses).
A single-storey rear extension is permitted development up to 4 metres for a detached house or 3 metres for a semi-detached or terraced house. Side extensions must not exceed half the width of the original house. Two-storey extensions are not permitted development. The larger home extension scheme allows up to 8m/6m but requires prior approval. All extension allowances are measured against the original house.
Rear dormers are generally permitted development within volume limits. Front dormers require planning permission. Hip-to-gable conversions always require permission. Garage conversions are generally permitted development. Outbuildings are permitted development within the Class E size and coverage rules — height limits depend on roof type, and the 50% garden coverage rule is cumulative.
Solar panels: permitted development on roofs and walls except in conservation areas where visible from highways. Fences and walls: up to 1 metre by a highway, up to 2 metres elsewhere. Permeable driveways: permitted. Impermeable driveways: require permission unless drainage is provided. Cladding and render: permitted development except in conservation areas.
Before starting any work under permitted development rights, check the planning history for your property. Conditions from previous permissions can remove your rights. Article 4 Directions may apply. Previous extensions may have used up your permitted development allowance. The planning history surfaces all of this — standard searches often do not.
Standard searches check the public register. We go further — querying live portals, blocked legacy systems, pre-merger authority databases, committee PDF archives, Land Registry title constraints, and comparable decisions across your postcode cluster. What we retrieve determines what you know before you build, buy, or appeal.