Conservatory Planning Permission

ensuring that your proposed conservatory meets planning legislation if needed

With the rise in popularity of home improvement, particularly conservatories in recent years as a comparatively straightforward and cost-effective way of adding extra space to your home, it is vital that some controls are in place to prevent homeowners from expanding their properties in a manner that is to the detriment of the surrounding environment – or in a way that would impact negatively on their neighbours.

Planning regulations were revised recently and on 1st October 2008 new regulations came into force that makes an application for planning permission unnecessary subject to certain restrictions - they apply to extensions in general but this is how they apply specifically to conservatories:

  • No more than half of the land surrounding the ‘original house’ will be covered by additions or outbuildings, including conservatories. The term ‘original house’ means the house as it was first built, or as it stood on 1st July 1948 if it was built prior to this date. You should bear in mind that while you may not have extended your property, a previous owner may have. Outbuildings would include structures such as garages and must be incorporated into any calculation when considering the size of your conservatory.

  • No conservatory or other development is allowed that would be forward of the principal elevation of the property, or a side elevation fronting a highway.

  • No part of the conservatory may be higher than the highest part of the roof of your property.

  • The eaves and ridge height of your conservatory may be no higher than the eaves and ridge height of your home.

  • Within 2 metres of the boundary of your property, the maximum permitted eaves height for your conservatory is 3 metres.

  • Your conservatory, if attached to the rear of your property, may be no more than 3 metres deep unless your home is detached, in which case the limit is increased to 4 metres.

  • The maximum overall height of a conservatory built to the rear of your property is 4 metres.

  • Conservatories built on the side of your property may be no higher than 4 metres at any point, and may be no wider than 50% of the width of the adjoining property.

There are other provisions in the regulations; however we assume that your development is a conservatory and that it will inherently be single-storey as required in the regulations, and so their specifics are not mentioned here.

Listed buildings will require listed building consent for any proposed work.

Further restrictions apply in certain areas, such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, World Heritage Sites and conservation areas.

It is important to check with your local planning office in all cases to ensure that your interpretation of the regulations is correct and that you do not require a planning application for the development of your conservatory. Your local council or authority will be happy to provide you with the details of your local planning and building control contacts who will in turn be happy to discuss your conservatory project with you.

Conservatory Building Regulations

It is worth noting that building regulations may still apply to extension developments such as conservatories even if they do not require planning permission, although as with the above this can be avoided if the conservatory meets certain criteria. More information can be found on our Conservatory Building Regulations page.

Choosing a conservatory - next steps

After having perused our comprehensive conservatories section, it is likely that you will want to start evaluating conservatory prices and the various styles available so you can make a more considered decision.

The best way to get started is to select around 3 different FENSA registered specialists and arrange for them to come to your home and show you the range available, and advise you on how best to make use of the space in which you are planning to erect your conservatory – they may be able to offer size or layout options that you hadn’t even considered as well as specific conservatory planning permission or building regs information relevant to your particular project.

Conservatory Brochures

One of the more established names, Apropos, have been specialising in designing and building conservatories for over 50 years and you can request a free Apropos brochure by clicking here.

 

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