Satellite dishes and aerials are one of those planning topics where the rules feel arbitrary until you understand the logic — which is almost entirely about visual impact, particularly in conservation areas and on highway-facing elevations.
Usually no — but location on the building matters significantly, and conservation areas change everything.
Installing a satellite dish is permitted development under Class H of Part 1 of the GPDO if only two antennas are installed on the property in total, the maximum diameter is 100cm (or 130cm in satellite broadband not-spots), and the dish is not on a chimney, wall, or roof slope that faces and is visible from a highway, and not on a listed building or in a conservation area.
This catches most domestic satellite dish installations that face the street. If the wall, chimney, or roof slope faces a highway (including a footway) and would be visible from that highway, the installation is not permitted development. In practice, this means front-facing dishes on most terraced and semi-detached properties require planning permission.
All satellite dishes in conservation areas require planning permission regardless of their position on the building. The permitted development right also has a two-dish limit — if a previous owner already installed two dishes, any further installation requires planning permission regardless of size. Flats and maisonettes do not have the same permitted development rights for satellite dishes as houses.
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