Introduction“Town Planning” that’s an amazing choice of career, you’ll hear no one say ever!! Yet town planning effects everyone every day. From the route you travel to work, to the living accommodation you can or can’t afford and it is genuinely fascinating, (though I could be bias). Over the coming months we’ll aim for this small blog to uncover some of things you may need to know about your property and workspace but do feel free to get in touch with us if there’s any questions you need answering. Nearly every construction and DIY project, even the small ones, need some form of planning consent. To try and simplify the system of gaining planning consent the Government created some legislation which gives householders some basic rights to undertake work to their property without having to go through the formal planning process. These rights are all listed within the Permitted Development Order (hence them being known as Permitted Development Rights) but often they come with conditions and these can cause confusion because they are not clearly set out. For example, if a fence can be 2m in height where do you measure it from if your garden is on a slope or your land is higher than your neighbours? knowing what you can do is sometimes difficult to determine and just when you think that’s confusing the householder rights change. Many of the permitted rights also only apply to houses and not to flats, so again knowing what you can do is sometimes difficult to determine and just when you think that’s confusing the householder rights change if you’re in a Conservation Area, have a listed building or within the South Downs National Park boundary. Essential Advice1. Do I need planning consent?Firstly, if you are thinking of undertaking any construction of external DIY project including rendering, cladding, fencing, window installation or putting up a shed, you should first check to see if planning consent is required. The easiest way of doing this is to see if neighbours have done anything similar recently and if they have, then it’s likely your project will be fine too. 2. Should I check with the local authority?You can go online to your local authority planning pages and put in a street address and see what other planning permission have been granted or refused and often there will be an officers report which will give all the details as to why something has or hasn’t been successful. If you are thinking of undertaking any construction of external DIY project including rendering, cladding, fencing, window installation or putting up a shed, you should first check to see if planning consent is required. 2. How do I find out more?You can also go online to the www.planningportal.co.uk this site has an interactive house diagram and a range of guides which will give more information. Of course, if after that you need further clarification then contact us and we’ll take a site visit and discuss your plans and any consent that may be needed, we look forward to hearing your ideas.
Comments are closed.
|