Common misconception re Local Authority Planning and Building Control Departments

Dinah93

Can anyone help with a question about Permitted Development, please?

In a nutshell, I want to move a window to a different wall in the room, which I understand I can do.

If the neighbours don't like it, do they have a right to complain and get us to brick it up, or does Permitted Development mean no-one can complain and we can do as we like???
Thanks.

(PS not in a conservation area or anything special)

Yes, that is exactly what permitted development means. Provided permitted development rights were not removed from your property when it was built, there are no controls within planning about a new window.

The above is purely an informal opinion and should be treated as such. I am a qualified planning officer experienced within local authority planning and conservation issues and any advice offered on these forums is done with the best of intentions however it should not be taken as legal advice

fluffymuffy

Dinah93 wrote: »

Provided permitted development rights were not removed from your property when it was built, there are no controls within planning about a new window.

"Upper-floor, side-facing windows to be obscure-glazed; any opening to be 1.7m above the floor."

Dinah93

As of 1st October 2008, when the regulations changed substantially, you're right upstairs windows on the side are now controlled.

harryhound

WARNING: The new permitted development regulations make it possible to legally and free of planning (as against building regs) approval, to do a lot more to your home. BUT this comes with a right for the Local Authority to take away your PDR's on a local basis.
It won't be long before the local authority planners will be playing cards at work and wondering who is going to be made redundant; so they will just love to be given local rules to enforce. If you want to take advantage of these rights do it sooner rather than later!

helenjg

planning_officer wrote: »

If it's just hardstanding to widen the drive that you're proposing, then no, you don't need planning permission - the laying of hardstanding is classed as 'permitted development'.

For clarity: This element of permitted development has been altered since the post was written, the new rules are:

If the hardstand is to the front of the house and exceeds more than 5 square metres it must be made of porous materials or have a method of directing rainwater onto a porous surface within the curtilage of your house.

mikee_j

rizla01 wrote: »

Surprised no-one has answered yet but (AFAIK) you cannot just put in a window overlooking a neighbours property if their house is a certain distance away unless you use obscure glass.

It all depends (I think) on the distance of the property and the distance of the boundary and ALSo the height of the window (ie. can you now see into their back garden where you couldn't before?)

you can't just put in a new window on the side of your house as there are overlooking issues. The main policy considerations are a) the distance to the boundary, b) the height of the window, i.e. ground v first floor and c) the use of the room which the window relates to. Usually if it is a habitable room, (i.e. living room, bedroom, kitchen above 13sq.m, study) then you will not be permitted to move the window, however, if it is a small opaque bathroom window, then probably will be able to.


An interesting point which many people don't realise is that a planning application MUST be made to the local planning authority which the property/land is geographically within, however, building regs can be submitted to another Council! for example, i manage a major devlelopment site in the London Borough of Hillingdon and have, therefore, obtained planning via Hillingdon Council. However, our building reg plans are submitted to Kingston Counil for approval.

planning_officer

fluffymuffy wrote: »

"Upper-floor, side-facing windows to be obscure-glazed; any opening to be 1.7m above the floor."

Whilst Class B of the amended permitted development legislation does state this, if a window is not development in the first place, then there is no requirement for it to be obscure glazed.

Basically, if you are assessing whether something needs planning permission you always ask the same 2 questions - firstly, is it development? And secondly, if it is development, is it permitted development? If the answer to the first question is no, it's not necessary to consider the second one.

Most new windows are not generally regarded as development, therefore the above quote does not apply. This quote is intended to restrict new windows in an extension which benefits from permitted development rights, rather than isolated new windows in the side elevations of an existing property.

planning_officer

mikee_j wrote: »

you can't just put in a new window on the side of your house as there are overlooking issues.

Yes you can - if it's not 'development' then there is no requirement for planning permission.

mikee_j wrote: »

The main policy considerations are a) the distance to the boundary, b) the height of the window, i.e. ground v first floor and c) the use of the room which the window relates to. Usually if it is a habitable room, (i.e. living room, bedroom, kitchen above 13sq.m, study) then you will not be permitted to move the window, however, if it is a small opaque bathroom window, then probably will be able to.

Planning policies only come into play if something needs planning permission - so whilst a new window in an extension which requires planning permission and overlooks a neighbour may be refused (quoting the relevant policies), a new window on a side elevation of an existing house is likely to not require planning permission, even if it overlooks a neighbour, therefore policies are irrelevant.

planning_officer

harryhound wrote: »

WARNING: The new permitted development regulations make it possible to legally and free of planning (as against building regs) approval, to do a lot more to your home.

Whilst I agree that in some areas this is the case - usually urban areas - in other locations, like conservation areas and AONBs, development is actually more restricted now than it used to be - for instance, in these areas no two storey extensions at all can be undertaken, no single storey extensions are permitted to the side of dwellings and no outbuildings can be erected to the side of dwellings - whereas these restrictions didn't necessarily exist before the permitted development legislation was changed. Whilst the previous volume-based system (in terms of extensions) did obviously pose restrictions to development, the new criteria which apply to these areas are in my view more strict than the previous system.

harryhound wrote: »

BUT this comes with a right for the Local Authority to take away your PDR's on a local basis.
It won't be long before the local authority planners will be playing cards at work and wondering who is going to be made redundant; so they will just love to be given local rules to enforce. If you want to take advantage of these rights do it sooner rather than later!

Planners can't just go round looking for properties to remove permitted development rights from! PD rights can be taken away in two circumstances - firstly, by a condition attached to a planning permission, so you would have to apply for planning permission for something first before this is likely to happen. Secondly, an Article 4 Direction can be served, which removes certain types of permitted development rights from a particular area, e.g. a conservation area. The new legislation is highly unlikely to give rise to a sudden rush of new Article 4 Directions, as these have to be imposed for proper reasons, not just willy-nilly. Besides, Article 4 Directions are not new and were not created by the amended legislation - they've been in existence for years, and are commonly applied in conservation areas anyway.

mikee_j

planning_officer wrote: »

Yes you can - if it's not 'development' then there is no requirement for planning permission.
QUOTE]


Interesting. What 'test' do you use to decide if something is development? I would have thought that introducing a window to an elevation where no window currently exists would be classed as development, as i would see that as a materially affecting the external appearance of the building?!