Planning Permission

Planning Permission
Greater Manchester

Renovat Construction manages planning applications across all ten Greater Manchester boroughs. Extensions, loft conversions, new builds, HMO conversions, flat conversions and change of use. We know how each council operates, what each planning officer looks for, and how to prepare applications that get approved rather than refused.

How Greater Manchester Planning Authorities Differ From Each Other

One of the most common mistakes homeowners and property investors make is assuming that planning rules work the same way across Greater Manchester. They do not. Each of the ten boroughs has its own Local Plan, its own design guides, its own supplementary planning documents, and its own culture around how planning decisions are made. What sails through Manchester City Council can be questioned in Trafford. What Stockport Council objects to on design grounds, Bolton Council may accept without issue.

Manchester City Council is generally pragmatic about householder extensions in residential areas, particularly in the inner south Manchester wards where Victorian terraces predominate. Officers understand the housing stock and tend to focus on whether proposals respect the character of the street rather than applying rigid design rules. Trafford Council is more conservative, particularly in the affluent southern wards of Altrincham, Hale, Bowdon and Sale where design quality and materials are scrutinised more carefully. Conservation Area restrictions in these areas are enforced with greater rigour than in most of Manchester City's Conservation Areas.

Stockport Council has specific policies around dormer loft conversions that differ from national guidance. Officers there routinely require dormers to be set back further from the eaves and to be smaller relative to the roof slope than the national Permitted Development limits allow. Understanding this before submitting an application avoids refusals or requests for amendments that add weeks to the process. Salford City Council has been active in introducing Article 4 directions removing HMO permitted development rights around the university campus areas, which directly affects landlords planning conversions in those streets.

In 25 years working across the region we have built an understanding of how each authority operates that cannot be gained from reading planning policy documents alone. We tailor every application to the specific authority receiving it, which is why our applications are approved at a significantly higher rate than applications submitted without local knowledge.

Do You Need Planning Permission? How to Check for Your Property

The starting point for any building project is confirming whether planning permission is required. The answer is not always obvious and getting it wrong in either direction creates problems. Assuming you need permission when you do not wastes time and money on an unnecessary application. Assuming you do not need permission when you do creates an enforcement risk and can make your property unmortgageable when you come to sell.

Projects That Almost Always Need Planning Permission

• New houses or dwellings of any size on any plot
• Extensions that exceed Permitted Development size limits
• Any work to a listed building, including internal alterations — Listed Building Consent is required
• Significant external changes to properties in Conservation Areas
• Converting a house into flats or bedsits — this is always a material change of use
• Converting a property to an HMO in areas covered by Article 4 directions, or any large HMO with seven or more occupants
• Change of use from residential to commercial or vice versa
• Extensions to flats and maisonettes — these have no Permitted Development rights
• Balconies, raised platforms or roof terraces

Projects Usually Covered by Permitted Development

• Single storey rear extensions up to 4 metres for detached houses or 3 metres for semi-detached and terraced houses — up to 8 or 6 metres under the Larger Home Extension scheme with prior approval
• Rear dormer loft conversions within volume and height limits on non-Conservation Area properties
• Loft conversions adding up to 40 cubic metres to terraced houses or 50 cubic metres to detached and semi-detached
• Outbuildings in rear gardens within size and location limits
• Side extensions up to half the width of the original house, single storey only
• Replacement windows like for like in non-listed, non-Conservation Area properties
• Driveways using permeable materials draining to your own land
• Solar panels on roofs of non-listed properties

Permitted Development rights can be removed or restricted by Article 4 directions, by planning conditions attached to previous permissions, or if the permitted development allowance was used up by earlier extensions. Properties in Conservation Areas, National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have reduced Permitted Development rights. We always check the specific planning history and constraints for your property before advising whether permission is needed.

What is a Lawful Development Certificate and When Do You Need One?

A Lawful Development Certificate is a formal decision from the council confirming that your proposed or existing development is lawful — either because it falls within Permitted Development rights or because it has been in place long enough to be immune from enforcement action. It is not planning permission. It is proof that planning permission is not needed.

An LDC costs around £129 for proposed development and takes approximately 8 weeks to process. It is not legally required, but in practice it is increasingly essential. Solicitors acting on the purchase of properties across Greater Manchester now routinely request LDC documentation where extensions, loft conversions or garage conversions are visible on the property. Without it, buyers' solicitors raise requisitions that can delay or abort sales. Mortgage lenders are similarly cautious about properties with apparent building works that cannot be shown to be lawful.

We recommend applying for an LDC for any Permitted Development work, particularly loft conversions, rear extensions and garage conversions. The cost is modest relative to the peace of mind it provides and the conveyancing complications it prevents.

Planning Permission vs Building Regulations: Understanding the Difference

These are two entirely separate approval systems that are frequently confused with each other. Understanding which applies to your project is essential before you start.

Planning permission is about what you build — its size, appearance, location and use. It is concerned with how the development affects the surrounding area, neighbours and the character of the street. It is granted by the local planning authority, which is your borough council.

Building Regulations approval is about how you build — the structural integrity, fire safety, insulation, drainage, ventilation and electrical safety of the construction itself. It ensures the building is safe to occupy and meets current construction standards. It is administered by Building Control, which may be your council's Building Control department or an approved private inspector.

A project can require both, one or neither. An internal renovation such as replastering and redecorating requires neither. A rear extension typically requires both. A like-for-like window replacement requires neither on a standard property. Installing a new boiler requires Building Regulations notification but not planning permission. We advise on both and can manage Building Regulations applications alongside planning as part of a complete project management service.

Planning Permission for House Extensions in Greater Manchester

House extensions are the most common planning application we submit across Greater Manchester. The starting point is always whether the extension falls within Permitted Development. For most standard rear extensions on standard residential properties outside Conservation Areas and away from listed buildings, this is the case. We confirm this with a Permitted Development check and recommend an LDC application before construction begins.

Where full planning permission is required — typically for larger extensions, two-storey side extensions, properties in Conservation Areas or flats — the application is assessed against each council's design policies. In Trafford, applications for extensions in the southern wards are expected to use materials that match the existing house precisely. In Manchester City, pragmatism about modernity means contemporary flat-roof extensions are generally acceptable in residential streets. Stockport's design guidance specifies minimum setbacks from boundaries for two-storey extensions that are stricter than national guidance.

We prepare applications that address these council-specific requirements from the outset. This means the planning officer receives a complete application that meets local policy rather than one that generates a list of requirements for additional information, saving weeks of back-and-forth. See our house extensions service for full details on extension types and construction.

Planning Permission for Loft Conversions in Greater Manchester

Most loft conversions across Greater Manchester's residential housing stock are Permitted Development and do not require planning permission. The key conditions are that the dormer does not face the highway, the volume added does not exceed 40 cubic metres for terraced houses or 50 cubic metres for detached and semi-detached, the ridge height is not increased, and the materials match the existing house.

However Stockport Council's supplementary guidance imposes additional design expectations on dormers beyond the national Permitted Development limits. Officers expect dormers to be set significantly back from the eaves and to cover no more than a modest proportion of the rear roof slope. Applications that meet the letter of the national Permitted Development rules but conflict with Stockport's local design guidance are either refused or require amendments. We factor this into every loft conversion application in Stockport.

Conservation Area restrictions affect many streets across Chorlton, Didsbury Village, parts of Altrincham and Hale, and various other designated areas across the region. In these locations, even rear dormers require planning permission and must be designed to be sympathetic to the character of the area. Applications in Conservation Areas require supporting design justification that demonstrates awareness of the area's special character. See our loft conversions service for full details.

Planning Permission for HMO and Flat Conversions in Manchester

HMO and flat conversions involve change of use applications which are assessed differently to householder extensions. The key variables are the size of the HMO, whether Article 4 directions apply to the location, and each council's specific policies on housing mix and residential intensification.

Manchester City Council has Article 4 directions covering most of the south Manchester wards with high concentrations of existing HMOs, including Fallowfield, Withington, Rusholme, Moss Side and Hulme. In these areas, even small three to six person HMOs require planning permission rather than being permitted development. Manchester City is also generally cautious about approving further HMOs in streets where HMO concentration is already high, applying its policies on housing mix to resist oversaturation.

Flat conversions always require planning permission regardless of location. Every council across Greater Manchester assesses these applications against minimum flat size standards, parking provision, amenity space and the appropriateness of flats in the local context. We prepare applications that address each of these considerations with the evidence and supporting documentation that each specific council requires. See our flat conversions service and HMO conversions service for full details.

The Planning Application Process: What Happens After Submission

What Happens When a Planning Application is Refused

A refusal is not always the end of the road. The approach we take depends entirely on the reasons given for refusal in the decision notice. There are three realistic options and we advise clearly on which is appropriate for your specific situation.

Revising the scheme and resubmitting is free within 12 months of the original decision if the new scheme is similar to the refused one. This is the right approach where the refusal reasons are based on design issues that can be resolved with amendments — a dormer that is too large, an extension that projects too far, materials that do not match. We analyse the refusal reasons, redesign the proposal to address them, and resubmit.

Appealing to the Planning Inspectorate is appropriate where we believe the council has made a decision that is not supported by its own planning policies or national planning policy. Appeals are free to submit but take 6 to 12 months and are not guaranteed to succeed. We assess the strength of each appeal case honestly before recommending this route. Pursuing a weak appeal wastes time and money.

Accepting the refusal and rethinking the project is the right answer when the proposal was genuinely at odds with planning policy and the project cannot be redesigned to comply. We give that assessment honestly rather than pursuing applications or appeals that have little realistic prospect of success.

Greater Manchester Councils We Submit Planning Applications To

We submit applications to all ten Greater Manchester planning authorities and understand the specific policies, design expectations and officer preferences of each.