Planning Permission & Building Regulations

for Aluminium Conservatories

Hazlemere Conservatories have the resources to take care of all necessary Planning Permission and/or Building Regulations (prior to the installation of your Aluminium conservatory) with your local authority - here is a summary of the salient facts.

Under the present planning legislation, if certain criteria are met your desired structure amy not require planning permission for Aluminium conservatories, unless you are adding a conservatory to a house that has already been extended. In addition, in recent years planners and/or developers sometimes have placed further restrictions, so it is worth checking if your house is considered "new build" or not.

In order to remain exempt from planning permission, Aluminium conservatories must not fall foul of any of the following principles:

• At least half of the new walls and three quarters of the roof is either glazed or translucent material.
• It must be built at ground level be less than thirty square metres in floor area.
• The conservatory is separated from the existing dwelling house by external quality door(s).
• Glazing and any fixed heating and/or electrical installations comply with the applicable building regulations requirements.

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

• 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 permission. A highway is any public right of way including footpaths. 
• Maximum depth of a single-storey rear extension of three metres for an attached house and four metres 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.
• Side extensions to be single storey with maximum height of four metres and width no more than half that of the original house.
• Maximum eaves height of an extension within two metres of the boundary of three metres from the lowest point on the ground.
• No balconies or raised platforms on aluminium conservatories.
• On designated land no permitted development for rear extensions of more than one storey; no cladding of the exterior; no side extensions.
• No more than half the area of land around the "original house" would be covered by additions or other buildings.
• Maximum height of a single-storey rear extension of four metres.

While permitted development rights (if intact and sufficient left) allow for the construction of some Aluminium conservatories without planning permission you may have to limit either the size and/or the type of materials used in construction if you want to avoid having to apply for Building Regulations. If the conservatory you wish to build cannot adhere to all four of the above principles then it will have to comply with the current Building Regulations in full.

For further information on Planning Permission and Building Regulations for Aluminium Conservatories visit our High Wycombe Showroom - if you prefer arrange a free design visit online with one of our expert Aluminium conservatory designers or freephone 08000 825 825