Conservatories

Conservatory planning permission Wiltshire, Warminster

When planning your conservatory, Planning Permission and Building Regulations my cause an unwanted concern. With Thermaglaze this is taken out of your hands so you are free to enjoy the exciting side of choosing your dream conservatory.

The differences between 'Planning Permission' & 'Building Regulations'

Planning Permissions and Building Regulations are often confused. Both are the responsibility of the Local Authority.

• Planning Permission - Takes into account all considerations of the aesthetic effect of a new building/extension on the surrounding homes and neighbourhood
• Building Regulations - Are to do with how the structure is constructed in terms of thermal efficiency

Will I need Planning Permission?

Thermaglaze takes care of this for you, but for a bit more information here is a summary of the basic facts. In the majority of cases you will not require planning permission for your conservatory under present legislation, unless you are adding a conservatory onto part of your house that has already been extended. You may also need to check whether your house is a 'new build' as developers sometimes place restrictions on them.

You may be able to build quite a number of conservatories without planning permission that previously would have needed it. The following rules must be followed for your conservatory to be exempt from them.

• They are built at ground level and are less that 30square meters in floor area
• At least half of the new wall and three quarters of the roof is either glazed or made from a translucent material
• The conservatory is separated from the house by an external quality door(s)
• Glazing and any fixed electrical installations comply with the applicable building regulations and requirements

From 1ST October 2008 new rules for conservatories and extensions took affect which replaced the old rules and affect conservatories as follows...

1. No extension forward of the principal elevation or side elevation fronting a highway. This means that any conservatory on the front or side of a house that will be closer to a public highway than the original house will need planning permissions. A highway is any public right of way including footpaths.
2. Maximum depth of a single storey rear extension of three meters for an attached house and four meters for a detached house. The width of a conservatory running along the back length of a house is not constrained at all unless it projects beyond the house which is constrained by rule 3. A house is only detached if there is no solid structure connecting it to a neighbour. A 'link' house is therefore not detached nor would be two houses with a common garage. The rules on what counts as being detached have not changed from the previous ones.
3. Side extensions to be single storey with maximum height of four meters and width no more than half that of the original house.
4. Maximum eaves height of an extension within two meters of the boundary of three meters from the lowest point on the ground.
5. No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.
6. On designated land no permitted development for rear extensions of more than one storey; no cladding of the exterior; no side extensions.
7. No more than half the area of land around the 'original house' would be covered by additions or other buildings.
8. Maximum height of a single-story rear extension of four meters.

While permitted development rights now allow for construction of many conservatories without planning permission items 1 and 2 above may still limit their size and material construction if you want to avoid building regulations in full.

Will my conservatory need to match Building Regulations?

In general, a domestic conservatory will be exempt under UK building regulations ask Thermaglaze to check this out for you and we will take care of that process.