Planning & Permissions

Is your loft suitable for conversion? Measure head height properly, tell a cut roof from trusses, and check bats, asbestos risks, stair space and planning.

What the Planning Portal does, what it costs (£149 service charge), and how it differs from your council's planning website.

Loft conversion fire regulations: the protected stair, E 20 vs FD30 fire doors, self-closers, mains alarms, open-plan ground floors and escape windows.

How to find, appoint and manage an architect for your loft conversion, what each design stage covers, and the questions to ask before you commit.

Where to buy the Ordnance Survey maps required for your planning application, which scales to order, and how to avoid the location plan errors that invalidate 22% of submissions.

How to submit a householder planning application in England. Covers the £548 fee, required drawings, Planning Portal submission, the 8-week decision timeline, and what to do if refused.

How to submit a householder planning application through UK Planning Gateway as a homeowner: the £85 service charge, each step, and what to check before you pay.

Loft stairs and Part K: where the stair goes, pitch and headroom rules, the width myth, when a space saver is allowed, and standard stair costs of £1,500 – £3,000.

Your structural engineer designs the steels, joists and load paths the new floor and roof depend on, and produces the calculations building control checks.

How to discuss your loft conversion plans with neighbours before work starts. Covers what to say, what not to say, and how to handle objections.

An objection is not a veto. How to tell a toothless complaint from a real legal lever: planning objections, the Party Wall Act, right to light, restrictive covenants, and oversailing trespass.

Building control is separate from planning permission and costs £300 – £900 for the plan check alone. Here's how to apply, what the documents contain, and realistic timescales.

Loft conversion building regs: full plans vs building notice, the stages building control inspects on a loft, who books them, and the certificates you need.

How to budget for a home building project, why builder quotes cover only part of the total, and how to protect yourself from overruns.

How to pay for a UK loft conversion: further advance, remortgage, second charge or personal loan, the MCOB stress test, Section 75 protection and products to avoid.

The Building Regulations 2010 plus the Approved Documents are the standard your building control officer enforces. The full map for a home building project.

How to appeal a refused householder planning application. Covers the 12-week deadline, written representations procedure, what the inspector looks for, realistic success rates, and when resubmitting makes more sense.