National planning regulations allow certain alterations to be made to a property without requiring planning permission; these are known as permitted development rights. In some cases, local authorities may remove or restrict these rights for specific types of development that would otherwise be allowed. This is achieved through the use of Article 4 Directions, which are intended to protect the character, heritage, and appearance of designated areas.

If your local planning authority has issued an Article 4 Direction, some of your permitted development rights may no longer apply. As a result, you may need to submit a planning application for works that would not normally require one.

You can check whether an Article 4 Direction affects your property by visiting your local authority’s website.

Planning permission is not normally required for steps in a garden, however, permission may be required if the steps are part of a larger project such as a raised deck attached to the front of the house.

If the external steps are attached to the house and a roof is constructed, this will become a porch which has different rules attached. Read full details on the planning rules for porches in our common projects section.

Different rules may apply if you live in a designated area such as a conservation area or if the building you live in is listed.

External steps will not normally require building regulations approval unless they are part of the access to the building. If they are then you must ensure that you do not reduce the level of accessibility to the house.

You should contact your local planning authority for further project advice, alternatively, you can apply for a lawful development certificate for confirmation that any changes you make do not require planning permission.

Balconies, verandas and raised platforms will often require planning permission as they do not fall under permitted development rights.

An exception to this is Juliet balconies which do not have any external access or platform, allowing them to be classed as permitted development.

A raised platform of under 0.3 metres is also allowed without planning permission, this may be an area with slightly raised decking.

When applying for planning permission for a balcony it is important to consider your neighbours privacy and garden. The features and location of the property may have a significant impact. If the building is listed or in a conservation area, then this may have a bearing on any decisions.

Once submitted, your planning application first goes through a validation process. After its validated, the formal decision period is 8 weeks. However, in some cases, especially for more complex proposals or if further information is needed, your local authority may request an extension of time.

Understand more about the decision-making process on Planning Portal

Once you submit your application it will be considered by the local planning authority. The Planning Portal does not have access to the application once it is submitted.

You will need to contact your local planning authority to check on the progress of any submitted application. Many authorities now let you track the progress of applications on their own council websites.

Your local authority’s contact details and website address can be found by using our local authority search.

Search for the contact details of your local authority.

Read about the decision-making process.