Permitted development rights allow a range of works — many extensions, loft conversions and outbuildings — without a planning application, within strict size and position limits. The rights are narrower than most people assume and can be removed entirely in some areas.
How to do it
- Check first whether the rights exist at all for this property. They are restricted or removed in conservation areas, on listed buildings, on many new-build estates by condition, and anywhere an Article 4 direction applies.
- Check whether the property is a flat or maisonette. Householder permitted development rights generally do not apply to flats at all.
- Measure against the actual limits — height, depth, proportion of garden covered, position relative to the highway. They are precise, and exceeding one of them by a small margin removes the right entirely.
- Consider a lawful development certificate. It is an application to confirm the work is permitted development, and it is the document that proves it to a future buyer's solicitor.
- Remember building regulations are separate. Work can be permitted development and still need building regulation approval.
The expensive mistake is assuming rights exist because a neighbour built something similar. Their property may not share your constraints, or their work may simply never have been challenged — which is not the same as being lawful.
Check it yourself, free
Planning applications near any postcode — no account, no email wall.
Sources
Related
- How to look up planning applications near a property
- What is an Article 4 direction?
- Planning permission vs building regulations
- Planning and constraints hub
Last reviewed: 2026-09-20. We check these against the linked official sources and re-date the page when they change.