Contents

Part 1: Development within the curtilage of a house

This is schedule 2, Part 1 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 (as amended). In plain English, this means that this section will cover changes to your house and home that can be carried out with permitted development rights within your curtilage. Boost your standard of living and take advantage of your permitted development rights for your house!

Note that further permitted development rights exist in Part 2 and covers items such as gates, fences, exterior painting, charging points, driveways and CCTV. Part 14 covers renewable energy items such as solar panels and air source heat pumps.

The rights in this section only apply to houses and not to flats or maisonettes. They will not apply to houses created under changes of use in Part 3, except those from Class O.

See our section on common projects for more ideas.

What is the curtilage of a house?

Good question! Simply it is the land surrounding the property which is used for the benefit of those living in the house. This might include driveways, lawns, stables (for domestic animals), vegetable patch etc. It is unlikely to contain land that is separate, or paddocks etc., which are not considered part of the dwelling even though they may be linked. However the curtilage is not defined anywhere and can grow over a period of time. See What is the Curtilage for more information.

Most permitted development rights do not apply to flats or maisonettes. Any external developments to these properties would require full planning.

However, internal changes are not considered ‘development’ and can therefore be carried out in flats and maisonettes as well as houses.

As with many other sections of this site, we are focusing on English planning here and not those homes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Each of those has their own slightly different rules. I am sure we will cover those eventually on Planning Geek.

Planning does alter on a regular basis and we will aim to keep this fully up to date. If in doubt please consult the GPDO – the links to the latest version can be found on our links page.

PD Rights removed?

It is quite common for local planning authorities (LPAs) to remove Permitted Development rights, especially ones within Part 1 either on new builds or even on further planning permission.

However Paragraph 54 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that planning conditions should not be used to restrict national PD rights unless there is clear justification to do so.

The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) says that conditions restricting the future use of permitted development rights or changes of use may not pass the test of reasonableness or necessity, and goes on to add that the blanket removal of freedoms to carry out small scale domestic and non-domestic alterations that would otherwise not require an application for planning permission are unlikely to meet the tests of reasonableness and necessity. The exact text of the PPG is quoted below.

Is it appropriate to use conditions to restrict the future use of permitted development rights or changes of use?

Conditions restricting the future use of permitted development rights or changes of use may not pass the test of reasonableness or necessity. The scope of such conditions needs to be precisely defined, by reference to the relevant provisions in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, so that it is clear exactly which rights have been limited or withdrawn. Area-wide or blanket removal of freedoms to carry out small scale domestic and non-domestic alterations that would otherwise not require an application for planning permission are unlikely to meet the tests of reasonableness and necessity. The local planning authority also has powers under article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 to enable them to withdraw permitted development rights across a defined area, where justified.

Therefore you or your planning consultant are within your rights to push back if you feel that the local authority is removing rights which do not meet the definition laid down in the PPG or NPPF.

Please contact us if you would like any assistance in this matter, which might require an appeal to the inspectorate.