Planning permission and building regulations in England: what must you check before renovating?

Use an approvals register for the actual property

Start with the address, property type, tenure, proposed work and existing planning history. A house, a converted flat and a flat in a higher-risk building cannot share one blanket checklist. Establish listed status, conservation restrictions, previous extensions and conditions that may remove permitted development rights. Give the same information to the designer and builder.

This is an England pilot for ordinary domestic renovation. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland require separate checks. It is also not a building-control application guide for higher-risk buildings. If your work involves a flat or a building near the relevant height/storey criteria, have the professional team confirm the route before relying on ordinary-house procedures.

Separate what is allowed from how it is built

Planning Portal explains that planning permission and building-regulations approval are separate. Planning concerns the development and its acceptability under the planning regime. Building regulations concern the applicable technical requirements. A project can need both; permitted development does not remove building-regulations obligations.

For each row, assign a named person, required information, fee basis, decision dependency and final document. “The builder will sort permits” is too vague: it leaves no way to check which route was considered or whether the evidence is complete.

Check permitted development against all the conditions

Planning Portal’s loft guidance describes roof-enlargement limits and conditions in England, while its extension guidance covers a different set of householder rights. Both identify exclusions and restrictions. Previous alterations can consume the relevant entitlement. Do not decide a project is permitted development because one dimension fits an internet diagram.

Larger rear extensions may involve a prior-approval process; that is not the same as simply beginning work without an application. If the proposed design falls outside the rights, the adviser should establish the appropriate planning application. Check the final drawings rather than a concept sketch, and revisit the route if the design changes.

Know what a lawful development certificate establishes

GOV.UK’s lawful-development-certificate guidance describes a legal assessment of whether the specified use or operation is lawful. A proposed certificate can provide formal evidence for the described scheme. It does not certify construction quality or replace building-regulations compliance.

Ask the designer whether seeking a certificate is appropriate and what plans and evidence the application should contain. Keep its exact description with the project records. Do not treat a certificate for one roof shape or extension as covering a later, larger design. Likewise, a planning decision can contain conditions that require further information or action before particular work proceeds.

Agree the building-control route and inspection plan

GOV.UK lists construction, extensions and various alterations that can need building-regulations consideration. For work outside the higher-risk route, the body may be local authority building control or a registered building control approver. Have the team confirm the appropriate route and which technical design information is required.

The application guidance distinguishes full plans from a building notice. A building notice does not provide the same formal plans approval. Do not choose it merely to avoid resolving a difficult structural or fire-safety design. Ask the building control body which route is available and suitable, when it needs to be notified of commencement and which stages must be inspected before covering work.

Some eligible work can be self-certified through a relevant competent person scheme. Check the installer’s registration for that category and agree the paperwork. Registration for a particular trade does not authorise self-certification of an entire extension. Keep the technical test record and any required building-regulations compliance certificate distinct.

Confirm the people responsible for compliance and safety

Current England guidance on design and building work gives domestic clients duties including allowing adequate time and resources, appointing designers and contractors, cooperating and providing reasonably available building information. It also describes principal-designer and principal-contractor arrangements and defaults where the domestic client makes no appointment. Confirm the roles explicitly so everyone knows who coordinates the work.

There is a separate CDM 2015 framework explained by HSE. Domestic-client duties normally pass to the contractor or principal contractor, with a written-agreement route for a designer to take them on. Do not assume a title used under one regime proves the person has accepted the role or competence requirements under the other. Ask your team to document both arrangements for your project.

Budget application work and the consequences of conditions

Separate professional preparation, official application fees, any portal service charge, building control, specialist surveys and the work needed to satisfy conditions. The official planning-fee schedule effective from 1 April 2026 is more reliable than an unchanged fee in an older renovation blog. Ask for the correct application category and current charge when submitting.

Put decision dates before dependent orders. Approval information, drainage findings or an inspection can change the work, not just add an administrative fee. As one regional example, Thames Water requires its sewer process to be addressed separately from planning permission. The correct undertaker for your property must confirm its own requirements. An unmapped drain should prompt investigation rather than an assumption that none exists.

A practical order of checks

1. Gather title/lease information, planning history, existing surveys and a clear scope.
2. Ask the designer to identify the planning route and restrictions for the final design.
3. Resolve structural and services design and confirm the building-control route.
4. Check party wall, private consents and utilities alongside the design.
5. Agree dutyholder responsibilities, application ownership, fees and inspection stages.
6. Confirm all applicable pre-start requirements before the relevant work begins.
7. Record changes, arrange inspections before concealment and collect completion documents.

Some tasks can run together, but a project programme should show their dependencies. Do not interpret a target date as an assurance that an authority will decide by then. Allow for requests for more information and the possibility that a design needs revision.

Questions for the pre-start meeting and handover

• Which exact drawing revision is covered by each decision or notice?
• Are there conditions or required details still outstanding?
• Who contacts building control, and at which stages?
• Which person coordinates design compliance and which coordinates site work?
• Which specialist work will be self-certified, by which registered installer?
• Which completion, test and compliance records should I receive, and who follows up missing items?

A completion certificate does not prove that every contractual finish is acceptable; snagging remains a separate exercise. Keep the approval register beside the work stages and documents in Reno Pro if useful. The goal is a traceable route from the planned scheme to the work actually completed, with each unresolved requirement visible before it delays the project.

Sources, date and jurisdiction

• Planning Portal — Planning permission and building regulations approval
• Planning Portal — Loft conversion: planning permission — England
• Planning Portal — Extensions: planning permission — England
• GOV.UK — Building regulations approval: when needed
• GOV.UK — Building regulations approval: how to apply
• GOV.UK — Use a competent person scheme
• GOV.UK — Design and building work: meeting building requirements
• HSE — Domestic clients: roles and responsibilities
• GOV.UK — Lawful development certificates
• MHCLG / GOV.UK — Planning fees: annual indexation from 1 April 2026
• Thames Water — Do I need a build over agreement?

Sources checked on 18 October 2026. Legal, approvals and contractual explanations in this article concern England. Check separately for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Prices are GBP; worked figures are editorial teaching examples for the stated scope and location, not market averages, contractor quotations or required reserves. Tax assumptions are stated beside each example.