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What is a Party Wall?
A wall is a 'party wall' if it stands astride the boundary of land belonging to two (or more) different owners, for example the wall separating two semi-detached properties.
Some kinds of work carried out to a property may not be controlled by the building regulations, but may be work which is covered by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. This is a separate piece of legislation with different requirements to the building regulations.
To find out more about party walls, visit Planning Portal.
Common Questions
When you, or an agent acting on your behalf, have submitted a planning application, the local authority will firstly check the application to check if it’s complete. This validation process allows the authority to ensure everything that is required to decide an application has been received and provided correctly. They will contact you if they require any further information from you.
After the application has been validated, the determination process begins and takes up to 8 weeks for smaller applications, or up to 13 weeks for larger applications. The authority should be able to give you an idea about the likely timetable. The local authority will contact you with their decision.
Read more about the decision-making process for planning applications.
In many cases, you can build a porch without planning permission under permitted development rights, provided certain criteria are met. To qualify as permitted development, your proposed porch must:
- Not exceed three square metres in external ground area
- Be no taller than three metres in height
- Be located at least two metres away from any boundary with a highway
Read more about porches on Planning Portal
A garden gazebo or freestanding awning will often fall under permitted development rights provided it abides by the restrictions set out by government. In this instance a garden gazebo or freestanding awning will be classed as an outbuilding and should not be in front of the house or more than 2.5 metres in height.
Different rules apply if the awning is attached to the house itself. It may still be permitted development, but falls under the class of enlargement, improvement or alteration.
Read more information including the full list of rules for outbuildings
You will not need to apply for planning permission if you wish to erect a new; or alter, maintain, improve or take down* an existing fence, wall or gate if certain conditions are met. If any of the conditions are not met, then you will need to apply for planning permission.
Find out about the limits and conditions for fences, gates and walls.
Fences, walls and gates do not require building regulation approval. Even though building regulations do not apply, the structures must be structurally sound and maintained.
If you share a wall with a neighbour, it may be classed as a ‘party fence wall’.
Planning permission is not required for the installation of a stair lift, however, if you live in a listed building, you will have to apply for listed building consent for any significant works, whether internal or external.
Stairlifts must be installed in line with BS EN 81-40:2020 which focuses on safety requirements for the installation of stairlifts.
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