Planning permission was, and indeed still is, a slight bother in some of the councils within the London, Hampshire and Surrey areas. Thanks to new permitted development laws that were introduced in October 2008, home-owners can now extend their house in more than one way, without having to obtain planning permission.

Before October 2008 every house had a certain allowance by which it could be extended without needing planning permission. The allowance on a mid terrace was 50 metres cubed whereas for a detached or semi-detached house the allowance was 70 metres cubed. This became an issue for people who already had an extension because the law on planning permission restricted conversions in an unfair way to stop people from maximising the amount of space and their investment.

However, as of October 2008, permitted development laws have doubled the amount of space by which home-owners can extend, allowing them to maximise the potential of their property by converting their attic as well as extending their kitchen or lounge area for example to create more space. This means that you can now still have a extension without applying for planning permission even if you already have a side or rear extension! If you read the last post on hip-to-gable extensions this law also helps you out.

One thing that should be said though is that this law does not apply to flats or listed buildings as well as some buildings in conservation areas. However, if your property does not fall into any of those three categories you’re in luck.

There are many projects which you can now have done without needing planning permission, such as having alterations to the inside of your house or other extensions built. There are of course strict rules for each individual extension which must be followed.

The rules themselves, however, are quite simple, usually regarding the size of the extension and so forth. For instance, some rules governing side extensions state “Side extensions must not exceed 4 metres in height, have more than one storey or be greater than half the width of the original house”.  As you can see the rules are very straightforward and they also give you many options to extend your house without applying for planning permission.

For a free quotation and to check whether or not your particular extension would need planning permission please phone Marble Construction on 0844 813 1111.