What is planning permission?
Planning permission or planning consent is required in order to be allowed to build on land, make alteration such as larger extensions, or change the use of land on buildings. The idea is to govern what your building or house looks like on the outside, the impact it has on the street where it is located, and the uses to which the house and the land it occupies are put.
There are 111 classes of development including a vast majority of extensions that are granted an automatic planning permission these categories are referred to as permitted development.
In the case of any proposal there is therefore a two stage test” “is the proposal development at all?” and, if the proposal is development, “is it permitted development?” Only if a development is not permitted development would a full application for planning permission be required.
Planning should not be confused with the Building Regulations they are entirely separate.