Permitted Development Rights, Article 3 & 4 Directions
This page is given as an informative view on Permitted Development Rights and does not form part of any guidance on a specific property or parcel of land. Any query relating to your property should be sent in writing to Development Control at the address provided at the bottom of this page. You can also contact Development Control using the form provided.
Permitted Development Rights
Permitted development rights are provided by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (the GPDO) and theTown and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (No.2) (England) Order 2008, to allow certain types of development to proceed without the need for a planning application, since planning permission for them is deemed to be granted. Such rights have long played a role in reducing the number of planning applications for minor and non-contentious development and help reduce the regulatory burden of the planning system.
Scope of Permitted Development Rights
The current GPDO is divided into 33 parts, which relate to broad categories of permitted development. These in turn contain a total of 84 more detailed classes of development. The types of development now subject to permitted development rights can be broadly summarised as:
- those relating to certain types of building, including dwelling-houses, industrial and warehouse buildings, agricultural buildings and those within amusement parks; these rights mostly relate to fairly minor development incidental to existing uses of the land and with any adverse effects controlled by various conditions attached;
- those given to certain types of organisations which carry out development, including local authorities, highway authorities, various statutory undertakers e.g. railways, electricity, ports, water authorities, airports and telecommunications operators; it is understood these rights were originally provided because of the essential public services provided by these bodies and the statutory controls and accountability that apply to them; and
- rights that tie in with and provide limited expansion of development rights provided by other legislation, such as repairs to services and unadopted roads, which extend the scope of development defined by Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
Limits on or Withdrawal of Permitted Development Rights
While the basic aim of permitted development rights is to exclude relatively minor development proposals from planning controls, the need to control any significant impact of even minor development in protected or sensitive environments means that the GPDO provides for some permitted development rights to be withdrawn or limited in certain circumstances, as follows:
- in conservation areas
- by conditions, exclusions and limitations applying to specific rights;
- through Articles in the GPDO, including Article 4 which gives local authorities powers to remove permitted development rights for work which normally does not need such consent, and Article 3 which removes permitted development rights for most forms of development if Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required.
- prior approval procedures, which require information on siting, design and scale of certain categories of permitted development to be provided to the local authority, with a decision required within a specified period, failing which permission is deemed to be given. In addition, permitted development rights can be removed outside the GPDO through conditions attached to a planning permission.
Permitted Development rights that can be removed under Article 3 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (the GPDO) are:
-
Class A
The enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse. -
Class B
The enlargement of a dwellinghouse consisting of an addition or alteration to its roof. -
Class C
Any other alteration to the roof of a dwellinghouse. -
Class D
The erection or construction of a porch outside any external door of a dwellinghouse. -
Class E
The provision within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse of—
(a) any building or enclosure, swimming or other pool required for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse as such, or the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of such a building or enclosure; or
(b) a container used for domestic heating purposes for the storage of oil or liquid petroleum gas. -
Class F
Development consisting of—
(a) the provision within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse of a hard surface for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse as such; or (b) the replacement in whole or in part of such a surface. -
Class G
The installation, alteration or replacement of a chimney, flue or soil and vent pipe on a dwellinghouse. -
Class H
The installation, alteration or replacement of a microwave antenna on a dwellinghouse or within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse. Article 4 Direction
You should also note that the council may have removed some of your permitted development rights by the issue of an Article 4 direction. This will mean that you have to submit a planning application for work which normally does not need one. You should contact the council before carrying out any work.
Contact Us
Telephone: 0121 704 6373.
You can also write to us at:
Planning Services
PO Box 11652
Solihull
West Midlands
B91 9YA
You can also use the Contact Development Control Form