New side window - planning permission?

330d

Currently in the middle of a double storey extension which involves two new bedrooms.

The plasterboard is now on and the bedroom at the back of the house is quite dark even with the large window. Its dark as there are quite a few large tries at the back of our house.

One option I am looking at is adding a side window. This will be obscure and most likely non opening. It will face the neighbors garden though.

Even with this, I don't believe I require planning permission as the window will be obscure. Is this correct?

If so, can someone guide me the the document that shows this?

AnnieB2018

You will need planning permission… Which council are you under?

330d

Cheshire East

Section62

330d said:

The plasterboard is now on and the bedroom at the back of the house is quite dark even with the large window. Its dark as there are quite a few large tries at the back of our house.

One option I am looking at is adding a side window. This will be obscure and most likely non opening. It will face the neighbors garden though.

Even with this, I don't believe I require planning permission as the window will be obscure. Is this correct?

An obscure window in a bedroom is going to look a bit odd.  And if you've got to the stage of plasterboarding then the addition of a new window opening isn't something to be done lightly.

What planning process have you gone through for the extension itself?

330d

It was full planning permission.

I read this on another website which suggests I don't need permission.

1. Fitting an upper-floor side elevation window that is not obscure-glazed and can open (unless the opening part is 1.7 metres from the floor of the room)

330d

I was thinking of something like this' https://i.pinimg.com/originals/13/92/8d/13928dee99e3698d13407a927e8adb39.jpg

TELLIT01

Safest course of action is to contact your local planning department and ask them.

Section62

330d said:

It was full planning permission.

I read this on another website which suggests I don't need permission.

1. Fitting an upper-floor side elevation window that is not obscure-glazed and can open (unless the opening part is 1.7 metres from the floor of the room)

Having gained full consent some of the generic advice won't necessarily apply to you.

If you need to depart from the approved plans it is best to contact your case officer (as per TELLIT01's post) and discuss with them whether the change is significant enough to require a formal change process.  As the change might affect the neighbour, the planners would probably want to at least give them an opportunity to comment.

Make sure you get written confirmation if the case officer is happy for the change to just be made with no formal process. When you come to sell you will need to have a record to show that departure from the original plans was agreed with the planners, not something you did on a whim.

Obscured glazing can be changed to clear very easily, so expect some level of resistance from either the neighbour or the planners, unless a formal approach has been followed and the glazing type specified through a condition.  It is a fairly common 'trick' to install obscure glass, and then swap to clear once the build is completed and the planners have gone away.

330d

I've asked my architect so will await his reply. 

But I have read the permitted development guidance and it said this;

(c) any window inserted on a wall or roof slope forming a side elevation of the 

dwellinghouse shall be -

(i) obscure-glazed, and 

(ii) non-opening unless the parts of the window which can be opened are 

more than 1.7 metres above the floor of the room in which the window 

is installed

Section62

330d said:

I've asked my architect so will await his reply. 

But I have read the permitted development guidance and it said this;

Permitted development only applies in certain circumstances, and permitted development rights in an area or for a specific property can be removed by the planning authority. They also don't override planning conditions imposed as part of a consent.

If you had wanted to install a window in the side wall of the original house then that guidance would normally apply (assuming PD rights hadn't been removed and there were no conditions applying to the original house)

But (if I've understood correctly) you want to install an additional side window into an extension which is under construction having been given full planning consent.

In those circumstances the situation with PD is different, and the guidance doesn't necessarily apply. Whether or not you would be allowed to add the window under PD depends on the terms of the consent for the extension.  Your architect should know this, but the case officer at the planning authority is the person who can give a definitive answer.

In broad terms, the question is likely to be whether you would have got permission for the extension if the original plans had included that window? If the answer to that is 'no', then the planning consent should have removed PD rights to add the window at a later date. The case officer will know the answer to this.

greenface2

Planning not normally required but put toughend obsure / laminated clear unit into the frame to be sure it wont become a danger if broke