The government’s Planning Portal gives guidance on building projects and whether they need planning permission.
For planning guidance related to solar panels, please view our solar panels webpage.
About 'permitted development'
Permitted development rights allow householders to improve and extend their homes without the need to apply for planning permission.
If the work that you have planned does not meet these criteria, then it does not count as permitted development and planning permission will be needed.
For further information please use our online planning permission checklist or visit the the Planning portal.
You are strongly advised to read the Government’s technical guidance document to help understand how permitted development rules might apply to your projects.
Below are some common planning projects with guidance as to whether the project would come under Permitted development.
This is the edge of the area of enclosed space surrounding the house. For example, a wall or fence between houses or gardens, or the wall of an adjoining building.
Please note that this is not a legal definition and a determination as to what constitutes the boundary may be made by Cambridge City or South Cambridgeshire Council.
You may also see the term ‘curtilage’ used on the Planning Portal instead of ‘boundary’.
You don’t need planning permission if you propose to:
- take down your fence, wall, or gate
- alter, maintain, or improve an existing fence, wall, or gate (no matter how high) if you don't increase its height
You will need planning permission to put up a new boundary wall, fence, railings, or gate that:
- is over one metre high and is next to a road used by vehicles (or the footpath of one)
- exceeds 2 metres high elsewhere
Under common law a highway is defined as 'a way over which there exists a public right of passage'. A highway can be a road or a footpath. It does not have to be a drivable route.
There are 3 types of highway:
- a road or footpath maintainable at the public expense – referred to as 'adopted'
- a road or footpath maintainable at private expense – referred to as 'unadopted'
- a private street/footway or footpath
The first 2 are the same with the difference being as to who maintains it.
A private road is considered a highway unless it is truly a private piece of land owned by one or more parties. More often these ‘private’ roads are simply unadopted roads.
To check if your house falls within a conservation area or any other site constraints, please use our mapping search tool.
The planning rules for porches apply to any external door.
Adding a porch to any external door of your house is permitted development and does not require planning permission, provided:
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the ground floor area (measured externally) would not exceed 3 square metres.
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no part would be more than three metres above ground level (height needs to be measured in the same way as for a house extension).
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no part of the porch would be within two metres of any boundary of the house and the highway.
Please note the permitted development allowances described here apply to houses and not to:
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flats and maisonettes (view guidance from Planning Portal on flats and maisonettes)
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converted houses or houses created through the ‘permitted development’ rights for:
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‘Changes of use’ (Schedule 2, Part 3, Classes G; M; MA; N; P; PA and Q) (as detailed in Planning Portal’s change of use section)
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‘New houses’ (Schedule 2, Part 20)
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other buildings
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Areas where there may be a planning condition, Article 4 Direction or other restriction that limits permitted development rights.
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Please read the information and miniguide on the Planning Portal.
If extensions fall outside of that criterion, then planning permission is required.
Please read the information and miniguide on the Planning Portal. Section 5 specifically relates to dormer windows.
Please note that if the building is a flat then planning permission is needed.
Loft conversions which do not include any extension to the existing roof, just internal conversion, do not need planning permission.
Please do note that this will need a Building Regulations application. To find out how to submit this, please use the 3C Shared Services website.
Please read the information and miniguide on the Planning Portal.
- the rooflight should not protrude more than 0.15 metres beyond the plane of the original roof slope and should not be higher than the highest part of the original roof
- if the rooflight is located on a roof slope forming the side elevation, it must be
- obscure-glazed, and
- non-opening unless the parts of the window which can be opened are more than 1.7 metres above the floor of the room in which the window is installed
Dropped kerbs can be created without the need for planning permission provided the road is categorised as ‘unclassified’.
To check the classification of your road, or to apply for consent, please read the Cambridgeshire County Council's dropped kerb guidance page.
Note: if your road is classified as A, B or C on the mapping system (access it via the link above): first you must obtain consent from Cambridgeshire County Council, then you must apply for planning permission.
Households paving over their front gardens add to the risk of surface water flooding. To help combat this, the Government has placed limits on what households can do.
For flats: you will need to apply for full planning permission to create any hard-standing surface.
For houses: you will need to make a householder application for any of the following:
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if the proposal exceeds 5 square metres
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if the hard surface will be made of non-porous materials
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if no provision will be made to direct run-off water to a permeable or porous area within land around the original house
Further guidance can be found on the Planning Portal.
Please note that if you are planning to pave over your garden in order to park a vehicle you will need to provide a dropped kerb. You may need planning permission for this if:
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the property has frontage directly onto a classified road.
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the property is a listed building
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the property is something other than a house for a single-family, for example, a flat or maisonette
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the property is in a conservation area
You will also need permission from the County Council’s Highways Team, and you will need to enter into a conditional legal agreement.
Please note that a standard car parking space should measure 2.5 metres by 5 metres.
Outbuildings can include summer houses, garden rooms, sheds, playhouses, greenhouses, garages, sauna cabins, kennels, storage structures, tennis court enclosures, gyms, home offices, cinema rooms, etc.
Outbuildings are considered permitted development, subject to the following limits and conditions:
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no outbuilding on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation.
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outbuildings and garages to be single storey with maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of four metres with a dual pitched roof or three metres for any other roof.
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maximum height of 2.5 metres in the case of a building, enclosure, or container within 2 metres of a boundary of a property.
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no verandas, balconies or raised platforms (a platform may be erected up to 0.3 metres in height without planning permission).
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no more than half the area of land around the original house would be covered by additions or other buildings (the term ‘original house’ means the house as it stood when first built. If the house was built before 1 July 1948, the term means as the house stood on the 1 July 1948).
It is important to note that if the building can enable separate occupation (for example, a granny annex), this will not fall under permitted development and planning permission will be needed.
If the building is an apartment, then planning permission will be needed.
Please also read the information and miniguide on the Planning Portal.
You do not need to apply for planning permission for repairs, maintenance or minor improvements, such as painting your house.
If you live in a listed building, you will need listed building consent for any significant works whether internal or external.
If you live in a Conservation Area, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads, you will need to apply for planning permission before cladding the outside of your house with stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastic or tiles.
Outside these areas, cladding may be carried out without having to first apply for planning permission provided the materials are of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the house.
Before you buy or rent an antenna, check whether you need planning permission, listed building consent, or permission from the landlord or owner. You are responsible for placing antennas in the appropriate position.
The planning permission and permitted development rules for antennas are shown below. You can view our good practice guidance on installing an antenna (which also contains more advice on installation).
Under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended), you have a general permission to install an antenna up to a specific size on property without the need for planning permission. This general permission depends on your house type and area.
Buildings are in 4 categories detailed on the Planning Portal:
You will not need to apply for planning permission if you wish to put up a new; or alter, maintain, improve or take down an existing fence, wall or gate if the following conditions are met.
In regard to its height:
- it is next to a highway used by vehicles (or the footpath of such a highway) and it would not exceed one metre in height (from ground level); or
- it would not exceed 2 metres in height (from ground level) if elsewhere; or
- if an existing fence, wall or gate already exceeds the limits above, that its height would not be increased.
- no part of the site is a listed building or within the curtilage of a listed building.
- no part of the fence, wall, gate, or any other boundary involved, forms a boundary with a neighbouring listed building or its curtilage.
- the right to put up or alter fences, walls and gates has not been removed by an article 4 direction or a planning condition.
If any of these conditions are not met, then you will need to apply for planning permission.
You do not need planning permission for hedges, though if a planning condition or a covenant restricts planting (for example, on "open plan" estates, or where a driver's sight line could be blocked) you may need planning permission and/or other consent.
You can change the use of a single dwelling (falling within C3 use) into a small HMO (C4 use) without the need for planning permission provided it meets the criteria below:
- occupied by between 3 to 6 unrelated individuals where there are shared basic amenities such as a kitchen
- does not change the use of 2 or more separate dwellings (C3 use) into one single HMO
- You can change the use of a single dwelling (falling within C3 use) into a small HMO (C4 use) without the need for planning permission provided it meets the criteria on the Planning Portal.
Planning permission is not usually needed to convert a garage. The following criteria need to be met however:
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the work is internal only
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the garage will not be enlarged
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if a garage door needs to be replaced by a window the window must be of similar appearance and finish to those already used on the house and is flush with the wall (for example, not a bay window).
Any further work beyond that stated above would need planning permission. If your intention is to convert a garage into a separate living accommodation (for example, a granny annex), then planning permission will be required.
On some developments use of garages as additional living accommodation is restricted by conditions on previous planning permissions. You can check previous planning permissions on your property via our Planning portal, Public Access.
You will need to apply for planning permission to create a roof terrace for a flat or a house.
If your property is a flat or maisonette, you’ll need planning permission to make a basement. This includes installation of lightwells.
If your property is a single house, you don’t need to apply for planning permission to create or extend a basement if:
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the basement is limited to the existing footprint of the house
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the use of this space supports the function of the main house
If you want to use the basement as an independent living unit, you’ll need planning permission. This also applies to houses in conservation areas.
If the basement extension requires a lightwell or any external alterations to the house, you’ll need planning permission.
To check if your proposed works fall under permitted development rights you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate.
You will need planning permission to install flues, pipes, and chimneys in a flat.
It might fall under permitted development if the proposal is not 1 meter higher than the highest part of the roof of the house.
To check if your proposed works fall under these rights, you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate.
If your house is within a conservation area you’ll likely need permission. For instance, if the proposal affects the side or front elevation of the house.
You usually don’t need planning permission to prune or remove a tree unless it is in a conservation area providing tree is not the subject of a Tree Preservation Order or you do not live in a Conservation Area.
You will need to make a full planning application to install a new awning or canopy (for example a sun canopy or awning over a patio). If you want to replace an existing awning or canopy, it must be like-for-like, or permission is needed.
You should apply for full planning permission to install, change, or replace a CCTV camera if:
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its dimensions will be greater than 75cm x 25cm x 25cm (including its housing)
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it will be positioned less than 2.5m from the ground
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it will protrude more than one meter from the wall
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it will be in contact with the property’s surface at a place more than one meter from any other point of contact??
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it will be less than 10 meters from another camera on the property
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more than four cameras will be attached to the same side of the property in total
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more than 16 cameras will be attached to the whole property
If you live in a flat or maisonette, you will need planning permission to change any windows or doors.
In the case of houses, you don’t usually need planning permission.
To check if your proposal is permitted development, you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate.
Check if you need planning permission for common business projects on the Planning Portal.
If your property is a ‘single dwelling house’ (not a flat or maisonette) you can make various changes under permitted development. Please use the Planning Portal's interactive map for further advice.
However, you will usually require planning permission if your property:
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is a flat or maisonette
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is a listed building
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is in a conservation area
Uses of land and buildings are put into categories called 'Use Classes'.
Usually, you’ll need planning permission to change from one kind of use to another. There are a few exceptions where the legislation allows some changes between uses.
You don’t need planning permission if:
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both the present and proposed uses fall within the same ‘use class’, or
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the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 says that a change of use is permitted to another specified class.
For example:
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a bakery could be changed to a shoe shop without permission, as these uses fall within the same class
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a restaurant could become a shop or an estate agent as a Use Class Order allows this change without planning permission.
The Planning Portal is not owned by Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, but was created by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and is used by every local authority in England and Wales. You can use it to submit planning applications, as well as accessing information related to planning and the planning process.
Please note that the information given above is a guide only and does not present the full legal and government guidelines for each of the situations described.
If you require a formal determination about the need for planning permission for the proposed development, you will need to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate. For more information, please read our validation checklists.
Find more information on householder and small business advice please visit our webpage.