Planning

A summary of Planning Regulations

New planning regulations came into effect on the 1st of October. This document describes the changes with an emphasis on conservatory planning applications.

This article relates to English Planning Regulations.

The new regulations were announced around the 10th of September just three weeks before they became law. From conversations with some of our customers it is obvious that the details and implications of the new regulations are not yet clear. In fact, talking to a local planning officer, they too are still trying to digest the implications having had just a few days notice of the changes.

The transition to the new laws is bound to raise many questions. Not least, the fact that any new installation started October 1st or later comes under the new rules. Any orders you may have had established did not need planning under the old rules may need reviewing quickly!

The government has been considering the changes to the planning regulations for some time but the speed with which they were brought into force has caught many people by surprise (not least the planning authorities themselves!). If you are unsure of the details read on for a recap of the major aspects of the new rules.

Please note that building regulations can still apply to conservatories – see below for more details. Another very interesting point is that any decking or raised platform that needs planning will also almost certainly need building regulations approval.

Disclaimer

We cannot guarantee that what we say here is totally correct or the final word on planning - the full document describing the new law is complex. Planning officers themselves are not totally up to speed yet, so where you are in any doubt whatsoever, ask your local planning office for advice. This document refers only to the regulations in England - if you are based elsewhere, please consult with the relevant authorities. We can accept no responsibility for any errors in this document.

The new rules replace the old

Planning permission is required in various circumstances where a project is said not to come under "permitted development" rights. Essentially the new rules say what is / is not allowed under permitted development. The first point to clarify is that the new rules totally and completely replace the old ones. You cannot argue that because a project would have been permitted under the old rules that it should necessarily be permitted under the new ones. Secondly, the new rules remove any distinction between a conservatory and any other type of extension in regard of planning - the rules are the same for either.

To come under the old rules, building must have started before 1st October 2008.

What has gone from the old rules?

Two primary aspects of the old rules have been removed:

1. There is no longer any reference to maximum volumes for a conservatory.

2. There is no longer any reference to the need for a percentage of clear material used in the construction to qualify as a conservatory.

What is likely to affect conservatory installations?

A summary of the new rules is available on the planning portal. To help we have split the list of rules listed into those most likely to affect the conservatory industry and those less likely. Remember that the rules are now no different for conservatories than any other extension so where the text reads "extension" it applies equally to conservatories. Note that all sizes are relative to the "original house" - see the notes below.

First, the primary rules likely to affect conservatories are:

1. No extension forward of the principal elevation or side elevation fronting a highway.

2. Maximum depth of a single-storey rear extension of three metres for an attached house and four metres for a detached house.

3. Side extensions to be single storey with maximum height of four metres and width no more than half that of the original house.

4. Maximum eaves height of an extension within two metres of the boundary of three metres.

5. No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.

6. On designated land no permitted development for rear extensions of more than one storey; no cladding of the exterior; no side extensions.

7. No more than half the area of land around the "original house" would be covered by additions or other buildings.

8. Maximum height of a single-storey rear extension of four metres.

We did wonder originally if any conservatory built on the side of a house might need obscure glass on the side. This is not the case, it only applies to first floor windows.

Notes

Some of these rules could be interpreted in different ways so to help us understand a little better we asked our local planning office a few questions. Here are a few notes on the above rules that we managed to clarify:

The point numbers below correspond to the rules above.

1 - This means that any conservatory on the front or side of a house that will be closer to a public highway than the original house will need planning permission. A highway is any public right of way including footpaths !

2 - The width of a conservatory running along the back length of a house is not constrained at all unless it projects beyond the house which is constrained by rule 3. A house is only detached if there is no solid structure connecting it to a neighbour. A "link" house is therefore not detached nor would be two houses with a common garage. The rules on what counts as being detached have not changed from the previous ones.

For some conservatory installers who either install most of their jobs on none detached houses or jobs predominantly over four metres in projection a large percentage of their jobs may now need planning permission.

3 - This one seems surprising in that it means that as long as the other rules (4 in particular) are not broken a conservatory could run the whole side of a house at any width up to half the width of the original house. In conjunction with rule 2 this allows for some very big conservatories without planning permission. Taking this literally it would allow two conservatories/extensions on both sides of a house doubling the total length of the front wall of the house but this is probably one point that still needs clarification.

After writing our original document we began to wonder how the four metres, on a detached property, and three metres otherwise would be affected if the property was stepped at the back. It turns out the reason we were not sure is because the rules do not mention this. In an earlier consultation document it was stated that these distances would be applied to give a stepped allowance following the shape of the house but this did not make it into the final document. However, there is a good chance that the consultation document will be followed in the absence of a mention in the actual law.

The datum to where an extension is measured currently looks like being a post code lottery. The rules clearly state that the three / four metres at the rear should be measured from the back wall of the existing property. The new build should fall within three/four metres of this wall. However, with regard to the new build it is not so specific and some planning authorities are taking it to mean to include guttering! The counter argument is that if you measure to the edge of the new guttering you should measure from the edge of the old guttering but no, it clearly says existing WALL. This further reduces your allowance.

What if the walls to the side are stepped? Where do you measure from and what width are you allowed to build to then? The answer is probably that the allowance is stepped as well but we don’t think anyone is too sure. We would advise you to always ask.

4 - At first sight this rule is unlikely to apply to conservatories. However, if the ground is sloping then eaves height must be measured from the lowest point on the ground and hence this rule could apply.

5 - This rule could cause some problems and we believe it needs further clarification. There are separate rules for any raised area like decking etc which seems to mean that any conservatory with steps over 30 cm high therefore needs planning permission. This seems in stark contrast with a conservatory itself that could in some circumstances be many square metres in size. Note also that any area of decking or any other raised area contributes to the total area used referred to in rule 7.

It is now our belief, and at the moment this is not certain, that steps on a conservatory will not be considered to be a platform which comes under a different schedule than a conservatory would. Therefore, they should not trigger a need for planning on the basis of being higher than 300mm. However, any steps facing towards the rear of the garden will contribute towards the three / four metre rule.

6 - Designated land refers to conservation areas etc. Definitions of what constitutes designated land is similar to before.

7 - If the total area covered by a conservatory, decking etc plus any other additions made to the building (the original house when it was built or 1973 if built before) are in total more than half of the area around the "original house" then planning permission will be required.

8 - This rule is only likely to come into effect where a conservatory has a steep roof pitch or on larger conservatories (in which case they would probably have failed at least one other rule anyway).

One of the comments made by a planning officer was that although they are unsure of whether this will affect less or more conservatories, it is likely that you may be asked to produce outline drawings for a "pre-application" check, to allow them to decide whether a full planning application is required. Some authorities undertake this for free, whereas others make a small charge (typically around £30 per job).

Rules less likely to affect conservatories:

We believe the following rules are in most cases less likely to be an issue for a conservatory. There could of course be exceptions so it is always sensible to check these especially if you were looking at a two storey or elevated conservatory.

• No extension to be higher than the highest part of the roof.
• Maximum depth of a rear extension of more than one storey of three metres including ground floor.
• Maximum eaves and ridge height of extension no higher than existing house.
• Roof pitch of extensions higher than one storey to match existing house.

A few other notes

There are a few other areas of law that can and do affect conservatory installations including the following:

• the Party Wall etc Act is still in force
• building regulations have not changed and are still in force.
• there is a new form that should be used to apply to do work on any tree covered by a tree preservation order.

Certficate of Lawfulness

It is worth noting that because the rules at the moment are more complex than before it may be worth asking the local planning office for clarification on whether a particular build falls within PD (Permitted Development) and therefore does not need planning permission. Some planning offices charge for this service.

The bad news is that the High Court recently ruled that a letter from the planning office does not constitute proof that a build fell within PD. This might not be an issue now but when your customers come to sell their house in a number of years someone may ask for proof. The only sure way to get around this issue is to apply for a Certificate of lawfulness from the planning authority. This costs £75 (or £150 if applied for retrospectively) and may well need planning drawings to be submitted with the application. As a certificate of lawfulness does not require a search they should be granted pretty quickly.

Building Regulations

You may now be able to build quite a number of conservatories without planning permission that previously would have needed it.  However, building regulations have not changed and the following rules must be followed to remain exempt from them.

So while permitted development rights now allow for the construction of many conservatories without planning permission rules 1 and 2 above may still limit their size and material construction  if you want to avoid building regulations.   If a conservatory you are building does not meet any of the above four rules then it will have to adhere to building regulations in full.

Resources

A summary can be found on the Planning Portal Web Site at

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315205815.html.

The full document can be found at

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/pdf/uksi_20082362_en.pdf.

More details on building regulation changes can be found at

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315206234.html