New planning regulations

The last couple of days has seen me looking into three planning issues locally and I thought it would be worth noting the new legislation that came into force on 1st October.

Photo: old pic of the Ebley developments

Basically all the rules on householder permitted development rights went out the window. Permitted development is the amount of building works you can do with out planning permission. This must not be mistaken for building regulations where virtually all extensions need permission.

Up until October there was a volume work that could be done to a house either in bits or one big lump. This was 70 cubic metres (50 in AONB etc). From now on these rights will be based on how big the original house was, and how big the plot of land is. For example for a house 10 metres wide you could have a two storey rear extension 3 meters deep across the whole width of the property. This could be as big as say 135 cubic metres, nearly twice the size of the old allowance. In ADDITION there could be a single storey side extension of say another 70 cubic metre, plus an ADDITIONAL loft conversion with rear dormers. All of this without planning permission and therefore without public consultation.

These allowances are much reduced if it’s a smaller building with tight boundaries, or is in the AONB or conservation area. The rules are now so complicated that the Planning Service will not be able to give advice with a simple exchange of letters. In future they will need drawings of the original house, what it looks like now, and what it will look like afterwards. With all things planning if you want written confirmation that planning is not required, there will be the inevitable form and a fee set by Government, £75 for a householder project. I strongly recommend seeking further information from the Planning Department and the website as these new rules are certainly confusing to me! I hope to begin to be able to grasp them - see more at: www.stroud.gov.uk/docs/planning/planning_advice.asp