Planning permission for conservatory

h0ney

Is this essential? And does anyone know if there are different regulations in England and Scotland? (I am in Scotland.)

I have bought a Wickes conservatory and building control has asked me to tell him how it fixes to the outer wall and i have no idea whee to start!
Honey x

ormus

PP is not normally required for them in england/wales. no idea of the scottish rules. i assume similar.
they are normally classed as temporary structures, ie they screw/bolt to the main house.
there are other rules of course, such as the size! and BC rules apply.
you do need to check though, cause it seems every council differs slightly in how they interpret the small print in the general rules.

danm

depending on size, these can usually be errected under permitted development rights. Check on your local council website for their section on PDR's.

If i remember, there are usually some restrictions (i.e must be permanently sperated from main house, can;t run central heating) that means pp and/or building regs are not required as it can be classed as a temp structure as ormus say's

cat79_2

I am a local authority town planner in Scotland

In Scotland a conservatory is not deemed a temporary structure, yes sometimes conservatories can be erected without requiring planning permission as classed as permitted development but in order to determine whether this is the case, can you give me some more info.

What type of house do you live in, detached/semi/terrace?

How big is the conservatory (metres please)

Have you previously extended the property?

Aree there any structures within 5m of the house (or house as will be extended) i.e sheds, garages?

Is there a road/public footpath bounding the curtilage of the house, which as a result of erecting the conservatory would bring the house closer to it?

Is your property within a conservation area or listed?

Is your property part of a relatively new housing development that may have pd rights removed as part of the original planning consent?

As you can see from above there are a lot of variables to determine whether pp is needed.

If your house is detached/semi you have up to 24sqm pd rights, 16sqm if terraced (or in conservation area), provided house has not previously been extended. If there is no road/public footpath bounding curtilage (to which house will be closer) you would also not require planning permisison. If the structure (incl any fire walls) will be no higher than 4m within 2m of the boundary you would also not require pp.

The relevant class in The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 is as follows:

DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CURTILAGE OF A DWELLINGHOUSE
Class
1.—(1) The enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse.

(2) Development is not permitted by this class if—
(a) the floor area of the resulting building would exceed the floor area of the original dwellinghouse—
(i) in the case of a terrace house or of a dwellinghouse in a conservation area by more than 16 square metres or 10%, whichever is the greater;
(ii) in any other case, by more than 24 square metres or 20%, whichever is the greater;
(iii) in any case by more than 30 square metres;
(b) the height of the resulting building would exceed the height of the highest part of the roof of the original dwellinghouse;
(c)
(i) in the case of a dwellinghouse within a conservation area any part of that development would extend beyond the building line of the original dwellinghouse on any side of the house where its curtilage is bounded by a road;
(ii) in any other case any part of that development would be both less than 20 metres from any road which bounds its curtilage and would be nearer to the road than the part of the original dwellinghouse nearest to it;
(d) any part of the development which would be within 2 metres of the boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse—
(i) would be increased in height as a result of the development; and
(ii) would exceed 4 metres in height;
(e) the total area of ground covered by buildings within the curtilage (other than the original dwellinghouse) would exceed 30% of the total area of the curtilage (excluding the ground area of the original dwellinghouse);
(f) it would consist of or include the installation, alteration or replacement of a satellite antenna;
(g) it would consist of or include the erection of a building within the curtilage of a listed building;
(h) it would consist of or include any alteration to the roof of the original dwellinghouse; or
(i) in the case of a dwellinghouse in a conservation area the development would consist of or include the cladding of any part of the exterior with stone, artificial stone, timber, plastic or tiles or any other material.

(3) For the purposes of this class—
(a) the erection within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse of any building with a floor area greater than 4 square metres and within 5 metres of any part of the dwellinghouse shall be treated as the enlargement of the dwellinghouse for all purposes;
(b) where any part of the dwellinghouse would be within 5 metres of an existing building within the same curtilage, that building shall be treated as forming part of the resulting building for the purpose of calculating the floor area;
(c) "resulting building" means the dwellinghouse as enlarged, improved or altered, taking into account any previous enlargement, improvement or alteration to the original dwellinghouse, whether permitted by classes 1 to 6 or not;


"terrace house" means a dwellinghouse—
(i) situated in a row of three or more buildings used, or designed for use, as single dwellingh ouses; and
(ii) having a mutual wall with, or having a main wall adjoining the main wall of, the dwelling house (or building designed for use as a dwellinghouse) on either side of it at the end of a row,
but includes the dwellinghouses at each end of such a row of buildings as is referred to.

Please always check with your local planning dept if you are unsure of any of the above. Its best to contact them and get something in writing from them, as even if its PD someone may enquire later i.e when selling house and its good to prove you have done everything by the book. Apologies for the extra long post.

h0ney

cat79 wrote:

I am a local authority town planner in Scotland

In Scotland a conservatory is not deemed a temporary structure, yes sometimes conservatories can be erected without requiring planning permission as classed as permitted development but in order to determine whether this is the case, can you give me some more info.

What type of house do you live in, detached/semi/terrace? SEMI DETACHED COTTAGE

How big is the conservatory (metres please) 4.5 WIDE X 3.5 WIDE

Have you previously extended the property? EXTENSION BEING BUILT CONCURRENTLY

Aree there any structures within 5m of the house (or house as will be extended) i.e sheds, garages? NO

Is there a road/public footpath bounding the curtilage of the house, which as a result of erecting the conservatory would bring the house closer to it? NO

Is your property within a conservation area or listed? NO

Is your property part of a relatively new housing development that may have pd rights removed as part of the original planning consent? NO VERY OLD HOUSE

As you can see from above there are a lot of variables to determine whether pp is needed.

If your house is detached/semi you have up to 24sqm pd rights, 16sqm if terraced (or in conservation area), provided house has not previously been extended. If there is no road/public footpath bounding curtilage (to which house will be closer) you would also not require planning permisison. If the structure (incl any fire walls) will be no higher than 4m within 2m of the boundary you would also not require pp.

The relevant class in The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992 is as follows:

DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CURTILAGE OF A DWELLINGHOUSE
Class
1.—(1) The enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse.

(2) Development is not permitted by this class if—
(a) the floor area of the resulting building would exceed the floor area of the original dwellinghouse—
(i) in the case of a terrace house or of a dwellinghouse in a conservation area by more than 16 square metres or 10%, whichever is the greater;
(ii) in any other case, by more than 24 square metres or 20%, whichever is the greater;
(iii) in any case by more than 30 square metres;
(b) the height of the resulting building would exceed the height of the highest part of the roof of the original dwellinghouse;
(c)
(i) in the case of a dwellinghouse within a conservation area any part of that development would extend beyond the building line of the original dwellinghouse on any side of the house where its curtilage is bounded by a road;
(ii) in any other case any part of that development would be both less than 20 metres from any road which bounds its curtilage and would be nearer to the road than the part of the original dwellinghouse nearest to it;
(d) any part of the development which would be within 2 metres of the boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse—
(i) would be increased in height as a result of the development; and
(ii) would exceed 4 metres in height;
(e) the total area of ground covered by buildings within the curtilage (other than the original dwellinghouse) would exceed 30% of the total area of the curtilage (excluding the ground area of the original dwellinghouse);
(f) it would consist of or include the installation, alteration or replacement of a satellite antenna;
(g) it would consist of or include the erection of a building within the curtilage of a listed building;
(h) it would consist of or include any alteration to the roof of the original dwellinghouse; or
(i) in the case of a dwellinghouse in a conservation area the development would consist of or include the cladding of any part of the exterior with stone, artificial stone, timber, plastic or tiles or any other material.

(3) For the purposes of this class—
(a) the erection within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse of any building with a floor area greater than 4 square metres and within 5 metres of any part of the dwellinghouse shall be treated as the enlargement of the dwellinghouse for all purposes;
(b) where any part of the dwellinghouse would be within 5 metres of an existing building within the same curtilage, that building shall be treated as forming part of the resulting building for the purpose of calculating the floor area;
(c) "resulting building" means the dwellinghouse as enlarged, improved or altered, taking into account any previous enlargement, improvement or alteration to the original dwellinghouse, whether permitted by classes 1 to 6 or not;


"terrace house" means a dwellinghouse—
(i) situated in a row of three or more buildings used, or designed for use, as single dwellingh ouses; and
(ii) having a mutual wall with, or having a main wall adjoining the main wall of, the dwelling house (or building designed for use as a dwellinghouse) on either side of it at the end of a row,
but includes the dwellinghouses at each end of such a row of buildings as is referred to.

Please always check with your local planning dept if you are unsure of any of the above. Its best to contact them and get something in writing from them, as even if its PD someone may enquire later i.e when selling house and its good to prove you have done everything by the book. Apologies for the extra long post.

I have answered your questions above, thanks fr your reply it was very helpful. Does the building control man have a say in the conservatories construction? i.e. he was querying why the conservatory wall is to be built on the outside skin of the dwarf wall...

anotherbigspender

ormus wrote:

PP is not normally required for them in england/wales. no idea of the scottish rules. i assume similar.
they are normally classed as temporary structures, ie they screw/bolt to the main house.
there are other rules of course, such as the size! and BC rules apply.
you do need to check though, cause it seems every council differs slightly in how they interpret the small print in the general rules.

I don't know where you get this idea that conservatories are classed as temporary structures. I've seen you post this on quite a few threads of a similar theme. I think I've seen you post similar about a porch.

Without wanting to sound rude you clearly are not qualified to give advice on this subject, and perhaps you should point out as much in your posts. I am sure however you are only passing on this advice in good faith and don't mean to intentionally mislead people.

cat79_2

When you say an extension is being built concurrently, is this completely separate from the conservatory? i.e did you apply for pp for extension already, or was it considered PD? The sum of the conservatory and extension could well be over 24sqm. If this is the case you will need to apply for pp for conservatory. If the sum is not greater than 24sqm it sounds from the information that you have provided that the conservatory would be PD. But as I said before I would, just to be on safe side, get this in writing from your planning dept.

In terms of building control (now building standards) and their criteria for the conservatory, I would speak to them further, i am not entirely sure what you mean about the conservatory wall, and I am not a building standards surveyor, so I wouldnt want to give any advice re buildiings regs, however I do know that if the conservatory is being built within 1m of the boundary to adjacent property you will require a firewall. Sorry cant be of more help in this regard.

Just to clarify also, the regs are different in england and scotland.

cat79_2

oops,, sorry forgot to say, yes building standards do have a say in terms of the conservatory being built to comply with the building standards regs. Esssentially BS deal with the structural aspects and safety. Planning primarily deals with the external appearance of the development and the impact on neighbours and character/amenity of the area.