Getting planning permission isn't as simple as it once was. The rules governing what is passed without question and what is turned down flat change regularly. Meeting the criteria to have a new development, rebuild, renovation or extension approved can be an expensive and time consuming process.

An example to the way that planning authorities and central Government change the goal lines, in October of 2008 the Permitted Development rights were changed.

The changes made it allowed for homeowners to extend or add to their home without needing planning permission, so long as it met certain criteria. These criteria relate to the size as well as the position of the extension and how close to the boundaries of the property. Some examples of these rules are;

• An extension can be no higher than the highest part of the roof.
• On an attached (semi-detached or terraced) house, the maximum depth of a single storey rear extension is three metres (i.e. the outermost wall can be no more than three metres from the rear of the existing property)..
• On a detached house, the maximum depth of a single storey rear extension is four metres.
• A single storey rear extension can be no higher than four metres.
• A two storey extension to a property can encroach no closer than seven metres from the rear boundary.

But even these are not universal, restrictions still apply if your home is on designated land (conservation zones, area of outstanding natural beauty, etc) or if it is a listed building. All work will still have to comply with building regulations and any inadvertant contravention of the rules will result in the extension being pulled down unless you are lucky enough to get retrospective permission.

Call Blackdown Planning Services now for all your architectural design needs on 01823 601048.