Permitted Development for Upward Extensions

So the latest changes to Permitted Development are upon us: as of 9:00am on 31st August 2020, it became permitted development to add up to two additional storeys to your home, under certain circumstances!

There are two important things to remember here, though, folks:

Firstly, these Permitted Development rights are subject to ‘Prior Approval’, which means that you still need to make an application to your Local Planning Authority before you start on the work (which means you’ll still need drawings), and they still have to approve (or refuse) it. The Local Planning Authority must test the proposal against certain criteria, including whether it looks acceptable from the street, and its impact on neighbouring properties, before they approve it.

Secondly, Planning and Building Regulations are two entirely different systems. In very simple terms, Planning deals with what development will look like and its impact on others, whereas Building Regulations control the technical construction standards to make sure that the building is safe, energy efficient, and easy to use. Building Regulations are unchanged, so you’ll still need to make a Building Regulations application for the work, just as before.

The rules for ‘prior approval’ are not entirely straightforward, so if you think your property might benefit from these new Permitted Development rights, call or email us and we’ll be happy to work through them with you!