Building Without Planning Permission FAQs

What happens when work goes ahead without permission — enforcement, selling, and what's genuinely allowed without applying.

• What happens if an extension doesn't have planning permission?

  If the extension needed permission and doesn't have it, it's unauthorised development. The council can serve an enforcement notice requiring alteration or demolition — though building it wasn't a criminal offence, ignoring the notice is. Your options are a retrospective application, proving it's lawful through the passage of time, or in some cases proving it never needed permission at all.

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• Can you sell a house with an extension without planning permission?

  Yes, you can sell — but expect the buyer's solicitor to flag it, and expect it to cost you in price, delay, or both. The usual fixes are a Lawful Development Certificate if the work is immune or was permitted development, a retrospective application, or an indemnity insurance policy to cover the enforcement risk.

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• What constitutes a breach of planning control?

  A breach of planning control is carrying out development that needed permission without getting it, or failing to comply with a condition attached to a permission you do have. That includes building beyond approved plans, exceeding permitted development limits, and unauthorised changes of use. A breach isn't a criminal offence in itself — but ignoring the enforcement notice that follows is.

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• Can the council make me take down my shed?

  Only if it breaches planning control and isn't yet immune from enforcement. A shed within the permitted development limits — the right height, behind the front of the house, within the 50% land coverage — can't be touched. If it breaks the rules, the council can serve an enforcement notice requiring alteration or removal, and ignoring that notice is a criminal offence.

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• What can you legally build without planning permission?

  In England, permitted development lets most houses add single-storey rear extensions (3–4 metres, more with prior approval), loft conversions up to 40–50 cubic metres, garden outbuildings, porches up to 3 square metres, and fences up to 2 metres — all within strict size, height and boundary limits. Flats have none of these rights, and conservation areas and Article 4 directions cut them back.

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More planning FAQs