Property Press Online

If you’re fed up of your tired looking home, but you like the location and don’t want to move house, you can consider doing up your home so you’re happier staying there. It costs so much to move house nowadays and can take a long time; with this time and money you could improve your home instead and stay put.

It can be difficult to know what changes you’re legally able to carry out without planning permission. Generally, any structural changes to the property need planning permission. However you can make some larger renovations without the need, as long as you keep to set size regulations.

Here are 5 renovations you can consider:

Add a porch

Stick to the restrictions for a porch and you won’t need planning permission. Keep the porch less than 3 metres above ground level and the ground floor can’t exceed 3 metres. No part of the porch can be within 2 metres of any boundary of the house or a highway.

If you remove the front door of the property out of the porch, the porch becomes part of the property and would then be liable to building regulations and potentially planning permission as well.

Add a conservatory

Again, if you stick within size restrictions you don’t need planning permission for a conservatory. It should cover less than half of the land which the home sits within, and not be higher than the tallest point of the roof. If the property is just one storey high, ensure the conservatory is not taller than 4 metres.

Add a summer house

Outbuildings like a summer house or shed don’t need to adhere to building regulations. This is as long as the floor area is smaller than 15 square metres and no-one sleeps in it.

If the construction is 15-30 square metres and isn’t used for sleeping, you could potentially not need planning permission still. To be sure, check with your local authority as you may need to submit architectural drawings.

Add a loft conversion

To not need planning permission, a loft conversion can’t be higher than the tallest reaching part of the roof and must be made of a similar material to the rest of the house.

The volume of additional roof space you can have varies dependent on the type of property. If you own a terraced house, you can have 40 cubic metres. Alternatively, if you have a detached or semi-detached house, you can have up to 50 cubic metres extra.

The roof extension can’t overhang the outer face of the wall of the original house.

Add fencing

You can install fencing of up to one metre high if it’s next to a highway used by cars or a footpath, but elsewhere it can be up to 2 metres tall.

If your home is a listed building or in the curtilage of one, you’d need planning permission. You’d also require planning permission if the fence forms a boundary with a neighbouring listed building or curtilage.

As long as the fence isn’t in a conservation area, it can be removed without planning permission.