Permitted Development in Birmingham
The end of free Householder Permitted Development Enquiry Service in Birmingham is finally here.
Residents of the City of Birmingham have been able to take advantage of a free service for many years. Birmingham Planning Department would review a proposal and confirm by letter if the proposal to extend your home needed planning approval or not. This confirms if the proposal is Permitted Development according to The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.
You can extend your home in a number of ways with Permitted Development, according to a set of rules and technical guidance. Some of the simple types of extensions that are allowable under the PD rules include single storey rear extensions, single storey side extensions and loft dormer conversions. The rules are basic and proscriptive so not all extensions to homes would be acceptable under PD rights. The rules work well for certain properties and projects if the restrictions are acceptable.
This was a very useful service provided free of charge by the Birmingham City Council. It simplified the process whilst reducing costs and timescales for homeowners.
Certificate of Lawfulness
Birmingham City Council was an anomaly in providing this type of free enquiry service. Residents of the city are very aware of the financial pressures the Local Authority is operating under.
We have many other projects in other areas of England, such as Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Lichfield, Staffordshire, Wychavon and wider areas. These are in locations where the Local Authority does not provide a free enquiry service.
You will need to submit a Lawful Development Certificate to receive formal written confirmation that a proposal is Permitted Development in these Local Authorities. From now on this will also be the case in Birmingham.
This is a standard application type, used for many other proposals alongside home extensions. Timescales are similar to the of a Planning Application, generally 6-8 weeks. A fee is also payable for the application, generally half of the fee for a full Planning Application.
You will need to submit additional information for these types of applications. This requires good quality drawings and information about the proposal and the site.
The General Architecture Company has always approached the drawings for both Planning Applications, Certificates of Lawfulness and Householder Enquiries in the same way. We always provide a full set of drawings to our clients so they can fully understand the layout, design and approach. We take the most appropriate route to achieve confirmation that the development is lawful. This may be a Planning Application, or a Certificate of Lawfulness.
We discuss the differences between application routes with our clients at our Home Consultation and as the project develops.
Our Services
The General Architecture Company creates beautiful and bespoke home projects and extensions throughout the Midlands and further afield.
You can rely on our first rate service and friendly, inspiring approach to design your dream project. Our service includes our initial complete building survey, the development of options, the design of the proposal, and submission and management of the Planning Application to complete the Design Stage.
Our detailed Technical Design Stage provides large scale detailed technical construction drawings. This includes plans, sections, elevations at large scale. Alongside electrical, lighting and services drawings, and a full Building Specification. We also co-ordinate the structural design and organise Building Regulations and thermal compliance as required by our clients. Our high quality and detailed technical drawings is well known, providing confidence that all aspects of your project has been considered.
You can find more information about our approach on the following page.
https://www.thegeneralarchitecturecompany.co.uk/approach
“…the design showed how much he understood our aesthetic. This is our first experience with an architect, and he has always kept us calm – we get the feeling he’s dealt with a huge range of situations, and knows how to manage them.”
Get In Touch
Start your dream project by calling Matt or Kevin on 0121 270 7227 to start .
You can also find more details of the project and reviews of our residential architectural service at Houzz.
