Factsheet D2

Factsheet D2 - What Approvals are Needed?

Understanding the various approvals required can be very confusing so we have included a summary below of the main requirements for home improvement projects. We would strongly recommend using an experienced architectural designer to prepare your plans and deal with obtaining the approvals. As indicated below, some approvals require specialist consultants and we will be pleased to assisit you with finding someone to deal with these.

1. Planning Permission

Planning permission is required for many home extension projects and is concerned with how any building alteration will affect the local environment, neighbouring properties and the ‘street scene’. It deals with issues such as loss of light, loss of privacy, poor design, off street parking provision and use of appropriate materials.

Planning is controlled by the planning department at the local council and any application will involve the planning department contacting any parties affected by the work. This may include neighbours, local resident organisations, the parish council, the environment agency and others such as the highways department.

Some projects do not require planning permission as they are deemed to be minor works and fall within ‘permitted development’. This, however, is not always easy to determine and we would recommend that formal confirmation of this is obtained from the planning department by obtaining a Certificate of Lawfulness.

Although planning permission may not be required, usually building regulations approval is needed (see below).

2. Listed Building Consent

If your property is listed, it is likely that you will also have to obtain listed building consent from the local council as well as planning permission. This is usually applied for at the same time as the planning application.

You will usually have to apply for listed building consent if you are building withing the “curtilage’ of a listed building – i.e. within the same property boundary.

3. Building Regulations Approval

It is very common to find this being confused with planning permission but building regulations approval is a completely separate approval and is dealt with either by the local councils Building Control department or a private building inspector.

The building regulations are government issued technical performance standards and most new and extended buildings must conform with them. They cover aspects such as structure, fire protection, thermal insulation and drainage.

Any proposal will need to have the plans checked and also the building work inspected and approved by a building inspector and most inspectors charge separately for each of these two services.

As part of the building regulations approval, it may be necessary to provide structural and/or thermal calculations to deal with any steel beams design and any highly glazed areas.

4. Party Wall Act

If the works are within 6m from a neighbouring property or affect an existing party wall (i.e. wall which is jointly owned by you and a neighbour), they fall within the scope of the Party Wall etc Act of 1996.

This gives your neighbour a right to ask you to pay for an independent party wall surveyor to ensure that there is no damage to their property and, if there is, it is rectified.

Where applicable, you are required to serve notices on neighbours that will be affected and, if a surveyor is appointed, they will draw up a party wall award which is a record of their property before the works commence. It may also involve the party wall surveyor stipulating methods of construction and other constraints.

It is a good idea to take early advice on this issue to avoid any misunderstandings between you and your neighbours.

5. Build Over Agreement

If your drains are shared with your neighbours, they are classified as a public sewer and you will need permission from your water authority to make a new connection to them, build over them or build close to them.

The cost of this varies but is usually in the order of £400.00 – £1,000.00. The water authority will ask for a plan of the proposed changes and we how any pipework will be protected. They may also require a CCTV survey carried out on the drain prior to and after construction to check for damage.

6. Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

Be aware that for large projects (usually over 100 sq. m floor area), central government and local councils usually charge a fee that is payable at the building stage – in some areas, both the central and local C.I.L. charges apply.

This can amount to thousands of pounds so it is worth checking the floor area of your proposal at an early stage to see if this applies.

7. Lanlord Consents/Covenants

If your property is leasehold, you may be required to obtain landlords consent for any proposed works.

You may also have restrictive covenants on the property that need to be addressed.

We would advise to check your deeds for both of these.

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 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
Be aware that for large projects (usually over 100 sq. m floor area), central government and
local councils usually charge a fee that is payable at the building stage – in some areas, both
the central and local C.I.L. charges apply.
 Landlord Consent/Covenants
If your property is leasehold, you may be required to obtain landlords consent for any proposed
works. You may also have restrictive covenants on the property that need to be addressed.
We would advise to check your deeds for both of these.