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Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Do I need planning permission?

Before starting any building work you should find out if you need planning permission. Whether or not you need permission will depend on what you intend to do. See below for some examples of building work that usually need permission, although this is by no means an exhaustive list and is for guidance only.

Also if your building is listed please check whether the works you want to do require listed building consent. To carry out works to a listed building without listed building consent is a criminal offence and may result in prosecution.

If you are not sure whether you need planning permission, you will need to submit an application for a lawful development certificate for a proposed use or development.  The relevant application form and the guidance notes are found by clicking on the following link - How to submit a planning application.  A fee will be payable equivalent to half the fee to submit a planning application for the same form of development.

If you are thinking about carrying out building work to your home you may need Building Regulations approval as well as planning permission. Please see our Building control pages for more information.

Permission is usually required for:

  • Two storey extensions to the front or side of your home.
  • Dividing off part of your house for use as a separate unit, such as a self-contained flat or bed-sit. (But you do not usually need planning permission to let one or two of your rooms to lodgers)
  • Building a separate house in your garden, or converting a barn or garage into a separate dwelling
  • Building something that goes against the terms of the original planning permission for your house - for example, a planning condition may have been imposed on the original permission to prevent your garage from being converted into living space. The Council has a record of all previous planning permissions granted in its area
  • Any work that would involve a new or wider access to a trunk or classified road.
  • Hard surfacing your front garden or driveway or driveway with a non-porous material.

Permission is not usually required for:

  • Minor repairs or maintenance
  • Minor improvements, such as painting your house or replacing windows
  • Internal alterations
  • Insertion of windows, skylights or roof lights (although first floor windows, or roof lights inserted in the side elevation may need permission)
  • Installation of solar panels on roof slopes provided they do not project more than 200mm beyond plane of the roof 
  • Re-roofing your house.

A useful guide for householders can be found on the Planning Portal website.  Alternatively you can click on the following links for advice on whether your proposal requires planning permission:

If you go ahead with your development without the required permission, we may ask you to make a retrospective planning application. If it is then decided that permission should not be granted you may be required to put things back as they were. You can appeal but if the decision goes against you and you still refuse to comply you may be prosecuted.

For more information see our Planning enforcement pages.

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