There are numerous planning applications for various projects some of which you may have heard of;

Your builder may say this is permitted development (PD) so you think you are ok to proceed, yes you are but, further down the line you may find it requires a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC), either when you come to sell the property or if a neighbour objects to the council during the build. Therefore, I always recommend an LDC is applied for at design stage as: A, it costs less and B, no problems with the Local authorities enforcement officer.

There are strict rules on what you can build under PD. Size, where, what, heights and materials. Also Larger home applications are available, but again come with restrictions and require a prior notification to the councils planning system.

Either of these applications can be a quicker process but if they do not adhere to the rules they will be deemed as not PD and a further application has to be made. Therefore you must be sure.

With the larger home extension if an objection by the neighbours is raised the planning team will look at this and make a decision based on impact to the neighbour amenities of all adjoining properties.

Sometimes you have more scope to get what you want with the formal submission of a Householder application or full planning application. This can be a long drawn out process (it is supposed to take 6-8weeks, it is nearly always the eight weeks) sometime the planning team ask for extensions of time due to staffing issues or waiting for specialist reports or details back from the designer.

We will advise what is achievable with planning and sometime try to push the boundaries. We always chase planning departments to try to prompt a discussion early with in the process and encourage dialog to gain a positive result with any modifications as required. Planning is all about good design and not adversely affecting the existing community or wildlife with a eye on the community and environmental issues too.

Permitted Development rights can some times be removed in some newer more compact estates or already vastly developed sites and always in conservations areas and on listed buildings.

I have told you about general domestic planning applications but other applications also exist with different rules agricultural, commercial, listed building contents etc.

If you have a project in mind please feel free to contact us to discuss your scheme.