External cladding

Soozegirl

Hi - hopefully a quick question/answer!  I have a house which already has timber weatherboard cladding on the rear which was permitted as part of a planning permission for an extension (way before we bought the house).  Will I be able to put cladding on the front of the house as it will  be of 'similar appearance' to the rest of the property (which I understand is the key point in the rules)?  The issue is that the existing cladding cannot be seen from the road and I wasn't sure if this would make a difference.  I am phoning the planners tomorrow, but wanted to get ahead of the topic to feel more confident when chatting to them!  I am not in a conservation area or anything like that...although there is a cottage on the other side of the road which is Grade II listed.

mexican_dave

I am glad you are taking this seriouly, as planning mistakes can get expensive. There is a potential issue with a conversation with the planning dept. They might deny any advice given that you act on. So when you speak to them ask if there is a process to formalise the position. I have project where I am using the Permitted Development process which is free to apply (£nil), I am putting my proposal in writing etc, but seems OK to me.
Maybe other Forumites have other suggestions?

FreeBear

mexican_dave said: I am glad you are taking this seriouly, as planning mistakes can get expensive.

Only a few days ago, we had this - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6509360/retrospective-planning-refusal-on-render/

So I would say it is advisable to put in a planning application. Depending on the current levels, Building Control would want to see insulation added to the walls before cladding is fixed. The material costs shouldn't be excessive, and it will help to keep the house warm. Will also boost your EPC rating, which may be a selling point when the time comes.

gzoom

You will 100% need planning permission, especially if the cladding is obviously different from existing material. As part of our planning permissions demands we had to tell the planning department the exact make/spec of the cladding material we are using, the letter sent by council actually stated we weren't even permitted to the cladding material 'onsite' before formal discharge of planning was granted.

Soozegirl

Update - I just spoke to the Panning Officer.  He said it would be 'no problem' and cladding is part of permitted development so I do not need permission!  I think this may be because, as I said in my original post, we already have cladding on the rear of the property which was granted as part of a planning application when that part of the building was erected.
As for the comment about insulation - our wall is already built and insulated etc.  The cladding is purely cosmetic.

Section62

Soozegirl said:

Update - I just spoke to the Panning Officer.  He said it would be 'no problem' and cladding is part of permitted development so I do not need permission!  I think this may be because, as I said in my original post, we already have cladding on the rear of the property which was granted as part of a planning application when that part of the building was erected.
As for the comment about insulation - our wall is already built and insulated etc.  The cladding is purely cosmetic.

When you spoke to planning were they aware of the listed building opposite? (i.e. did you ask them about your house specifically, rather than cladding in general?)

Soozegirl

Further update.  Having spoken to the planning officer who said 'no problem...but drop us an email so we can confirm that' I have now done this and a different Officer has emailed to say I need planning permission!  How frustrating!  Nothing to do with the listed cottage.  The reason is because the cladding that we already have formed part of an extension 15 years ago (before our time) and therefore was not part of the original construction of the house so does not come under permitted development.  Surely if they allowed it then, it should automatically be allowed now?  What a bonkers system.

Doozergirl

Soozegirl said:

Further update.  Having spoken to the planning officer who said 'no problem...but drop us an email so we can confirm that' I have now done this and a different Officer has emailed to say I need planning permission!  How frustrating!  Nothing to do with the listed cottage.  The reason is because the cladding that we already have formed part of an extension 15 years ago (before our time) and therefore was not part of the original construction of the house so does not come under permitted development.  Surely if they allowed it then, it should automatically be allowed now?  What a bonkers system.

Meanwhile people who genuinely need planning permission end up waiting months.