This is one of the initial questions that I ask during my consultations. It's one of the many key pieces of information that I need to assist me in determining whether I need to advise you to seek planning permission.
Now we've all heard the term "I'd love to be able to build my dream home" and for the lucky few that get to realise this dream, they'll need to seek planning permission from their Local Authority, to ensure that they build something that's viable. This regulation is in place to deter people from building something that is totally inappropriate and or dangerous.
With the "lockdown life" we've unfortunately become used to, any major residential projects have probably been put on hold. But now that we're slowly making our way back to some kind of "normal" I realised that there may be some of you out there who are thinking about finally getting around to adding that extension.
You'll be pleased to know that there's a good amount of things that you can do to improve your existing home that you don't need planning permission for, because they come under the Permitted Development (PD) umbrella. Permitted Development grants rights to enable homeowners to undertake certain types of work without the need to apply for planning permission. It recently had a review in 2019. You can have a read of the Briefing Paper before you get started. But I also strongly recommend that you double check with your Local Authority so that what you intend to do is covered and double check with a qualified surveyor.
I also recommend that you subscribe to Homebuilding & Renovating Magazine because in my professional opinion, they are definitely the authority when it comes to getting all of the essential information at the right time, as you move along in your project.
If you would like a professional to guide you, as you navigate around all of the paperwork that's involved with a full scale renovation project or if you don't have the time to source suitable and reputable tradesmen and you would like to ensure that your design ideas are viable for your space while also remaining within your budget, then you can always get in touch with me.