Guides
Answers before you start
The questions we get asked before a job, answered properly. Every rule here is taken from the Planning Portal, the legislation itself, or the council's own pages, and each guide lists what it was written from.
None of it is a substitute for checking your own property with your own council — permitted development in particular turns on the house, not the design.
Do I need planning permission for an extension?Often not. A lot of extensions are already permitted under national rules called permitted development — but those rules are a lisPlanning permission and building regulations: what is the difference?Planning permission controls what a building looks like and how it affects neighbours and the area. Building regulations control wDo I need a party wall agreement?Probably, if your work touches a shared wall, sits on the boundary, or digs deep near next door. The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 makeMy house is listed or in a conservation area — what can I actually do?Most things, but almost nothing without asking first. Listing protects the building itself — inside, outside and often the garden How to choose a builder, and what to ask before you signGet three written quotations, check the insurance and the company, and put the scope, the price, the programme and the way changes
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