Help For Planning Permission External Solid Wall Insulation

manan.shah.82

Hello,

We are planning to do external solid wall insulation from a green deal approved provider and our local council (Barking and Dagenham) said we'll need planning permission because our house has brick effect at the moment and after the work it will change the appearance of the house.

Unfortunately the service provider we have chosen cannot do this for us so I was thinking about doing it my self. I had a look at the forms and looks simple enough and I can get information about the material from the provider but not sure what drawings needs to be submitted.

Can anybody please provide any help/reference on how to start with planning permission, drawings etc?

Thank you.

Doozergirl

I was under the impression that solid wall insulation hed been moved under Permitted Development. I might be wrong, but anyhow, I do not see the need for drawings. No elevation changes are occurring.

I'd take a photograph of the house, print it off and ask someone in the council office to help you fill in anything on the form that you aren't sure about. From recollection there is a section that asks about existing materials appearance and the proposed. You don't need drawings, just to fill out that section.

manan.shah.82

Doozergirl wrote: »

I was under the impression that solid wall insulation hed been moved under Permitted Development. I might be wrong, but anyhow, I do not see the need for drawings. No elevation changes are occurring.

I'd take a photograph of the house, print it off and ask someone in the council office to help you fill in anything on the form that you aren't sure about. From recollection there is a section that asks about existing materials appearance and the proposed. You don't need drawings, just to fill out that section.

Thank you for your reply.

Reply I got from council says "We would require drawings and details to be submitted as part of the application, indicating the depth of the render and the proposed finishing materials." and I'm not sure about the drawings.

nobulljusttruth

You need to talk to stonefxwalls who can offer copy brick finish to match the existing bricks.
the only others available like slips, webber or K rend only offer red or buff brick. I know they are on twitter/stonefxwalls

Hope this helps

captainhindsight_2

You only need planning permission if you are in a conservation area or the property is listed.

In all other areas it is a permitted development.

My company does this, and some councils like to be consulted even for permitted developments as they say it's just to double check but in reality it's for the application fee.

System

I've done some of these, some planners were happy with brochures of the product and some photos of the house, but other councils insisted on drawings - you can only ask what they require, always ask if you can do the photos first! Their reply is a bit ambiguous, could just be drawings of the material rather than the house...
But not done any since permitted dev has been updated either...

planning_officer

captainhindsight wrote: »

You only need planning permission if you are in a conservation area or the property is listed.

In all other areas it is a permitted development.

My company does this, and some councils like to be consulted even for permitted developments as they say it's just to double check but in reality it's for the application fee.

Hmm, not necessarily. If the render is forward of the principal elevation (i.e. on the front in most cases) then technically it might not be regarded as permitted development (in any area).


Whilst some Councils 'like to be consulted' there is no requirement to do so, if it genuinely is permitted development. It's not purely for the application fee, as the fee doesn't cover the cost of dealing with an application. Many homeowners want peace of mind and some solicitors ask for evidence certain works didn't need planning permission from the Council when selling the house. It's therefore wise to get a Certificate of Lawful Development from the Council for the work, which confirms that express planning permission is not required - and that does attract a fee (half the equivalent planning application fee).

captainhindsight_2

planning_officer wrote: »

Hmm, not necessarily. If the render is forward of the principal elevation (i.e. on the front in most cases) then technically it might not be regarded as permitted development (in any area).


Whilst some Councils 'like to be consulted' there is no requirement to do so, if it genuinely is permitted development. It's not purely for the application fee, as the fee doesn't cover the cost of dealing with an application. Many homeowners want peace of mind and some solicitors ask for evidence certain works didn't need planning permission from the Council when selling the house. It's therefore wise to get a Certificate of Lawful Development from the Council for the work, which confirms that express planning permission is not required - and that does attract a fee (half the equivalent planning application fee).

See page 11 on this document. As a planning officer you should know this. But then again it doesn't suprise me that a planning officer does not know planning rules.

Even if the house is on the pavement it is permitted apart from in areas I mentioned earlier.

The installation of solid wall insulation constitutes an improvement rather than an enlargement or extension to the dwellinghouse and is not caught by the provisions of d(i) and d(ii).

planning_officer

captainhindsight wrote: »

See page 11 on this document. As a planning officer you should know this. But then again it doesn't suprise me that a planning officer does not know planning rules.

Even if the house is on the pavement it is permitted apart from in areas I mentioned earlier.

Firstly, I know the PD rules like the back of my hand, as I use them every day. No need for your blunt and rude comment. I also have the benefit of seeing literally hundreds of appeal decisions on PD issues, which have much greater weight and importance than the document you refer to.

I'll ignore the rather rude comment in your message- suffice to say I know the rules extremely well, thank you. That said, you should know that there are actually no 'rules' whatsoever on the document in your link. It is not legislation and has no statutory weight. It's purely a guidance document produced by Government and has no statutory force. The PD rules are set in the GPDO legislation. Yes, your document is very useful and many Appeal Inspectors refer to it, but I've also seen plenty of appeal decisions where Inspectors have made decisions contrary to the guidance in that document.

You are right in 99% of cases, and I apologise if my message made it sound like all render needs a planning application, as that's not correct and not what I meant. Normally it is just on Article 1(5) land (that's conservation areas, AONBs and National Parks) that render is not PD. But there are appeal decisions out there (rogue or otherwise) where independent Appeal Inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State have found that because that render projects forward of the principal elevation, it does not constitute PD.

I would never advise someone of that, and I probably shouldn't have brought it up in the first place, as it just complicates matters. I wouldn't have needed to respond either, had it not been for your unneeded comment.


The other issue is that a condition on a previous planning permission may remove permitted development rights, or the Council may have served an Article 4 Direction, which removes PD rights from a specified area - so you can never just say to someone that the only case they would ever need permission for render is in a conservation area etc, as that's factually incorrect.

captainhindsight wrote: »

...some councils like to be consulted even for permitted developments as they say it's just to double check but in reality it's for the application fee.

This is a load of baloney though, which is why I replied initially above. It's up to a householder whether they apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness, not the Council. Councils may encourage people to apply, as it can save a lot of potential hassle later, when selling.

manan.shah.82

Just to benefit others, Barking and Dagenham has planning team has confirmed I need to apply for a planning permission and I would need to supply below drawings/sketches,

1. Site Location Plan
2. No need for Block Plan
3. Photos of the existing properties
4. Elevation and Measurement drawings, can be hand drawn

nobulljusttruth

Even render can look like bricks. External insulation is now so common I am surprised that contractors do not offer this. Though I guess the limit to the grant return does not merit extra costs.

There are so many terrace and brick houses spoilt by render and pebbledash and this seems to be a trend that can be blocked.

Render is just concrete and needs painting every few years.


Just adding my penny to the pile....:A