Planning Permission for Orangery: Your Complete Guide

Adding a Conservatory or Orangery to your property can significantly enhance its size, value, and attractiveness. However, before you proceed with extending your property, it’s crucial to ascertain whether planning permission is required.

Do you need planning permission for an orangery? As per UK regulations, planning permission is necessary for building on or altering land or buildings. Nevertheless, this isn’t universally applicable to conservatories, which are often covered by permitted development rights.

do you need planning permission for an orangery
Planning Permission For Orangery

Planning Permission For Orangeries

Before anyone gets too far ahead of themselves they need to check whether any potential conservatory or orangery installation will require planning permission.

Breaching planning laws can prove disastrous! Your local authority could order you to make expensive modifications to the design to bring it in-line with the rules or even worse, tell you to completely knock it down and return the site back to how it was. You could also find it difficult selling the property in the future if a prospective buyer discovers that you have an extension that flouts planning laws (and believe us, they will find out).

You know you’re in the clear when it comes to planning permission and free to commence with the installation if all of these limits and conditions are met:

    • No more than half the area of land around the “original house”* would be covered by additions or other buildings.
    • No extension forward of the principal elevation or side elevation fronting a highway.
    • No extension to be higher than the highest part of the roof.
    • Single-storey rear extension must not extend beyond the rear wall of the original house* by more than three metres if an attached house or by four metres if a detached house.
    • In addition, outside Article 2(3) designated land* and Sites of Special Scientific Interest the limit is increased to 6m if an attached house and 8m if a detached house until 30 May 2019.
    • Maximum height of a single-storey rear extension of four metres.
    • Extensions of more than one storey must not extend beyond the rear wall of the original house* by more than three metres.
    • Maximum eaves height of an extension within two metres of the boundary of three metres.
    • Maximum eaves and ridge height of extension no higher than existing house.
    • Side extensions to be single storey with maximum height of four metres and width no more than half that of the original house.
    • Two-storey extensions no closer than seven metres to rear boundary.
    • Roof pitch of extensions higher than one storey to match existing house.
    • Materials to be similar in appearance to the existing house.
    • No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.
    • Upper-floor, side-facing windows to be obscure-glazed; any opening to be 1.7m above the floor.
    • On designated land* no permitted development for rear extensions of more than one storey.
    • On designated land no cladding of the exterior.
    • On designated land no side extensions.

* The term “original house” means the house as it was first built or as it stood on 1 July 1948 (if it was built before that date). Although you may not have built an extension to the house, a previous owner may have done so.

* Designated land includes conservation areas, national parks and the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and World Heritage Sites.

When you have “Permitted Development Rights” you’re also free to proceed with things. They apply to single storey rear extensions between 3 metres and 6 metres (for an attached house) and 4 metres and 8 metres (for a detached house) built before 30th May 2019.

For clarity on the issue, speak to the planning department at your local authority, or leave it to Eden Windows to sort out. If a planning application needs to be submitted we can also help with that. Book a 1 hour appointment today.

Your Questions, Answered

When Do You Need Planning Permission for an Orangery?

Most orangeries can proceed to be constructed without planning permission and don’t require submission of a planning application as they meet the criteria to be considered a permitted development.

However, you don’t want to fall foul of any rules when having an orangery designed and built to avoid upsetting planners, so it’s in your interest to have knowledge of the regulations beforehand.

If any of the published limits or conditions relating to permitted developments won’t be fulfilled, orangery planning permission from your local authority must be sought. Homes with ‘listed’ status also definitely need planning authorisation.

With our immense understanding of orangeries, we will know where you stand, and you can always consult your local authority for guidance to obtain official clarity.

Planning permission is entirely separate to building regulations approval, an extra important thing to note.

How Big Can You Build an Orangery Without Planning Permission?

Orangeries are expansive living spaces, but they need to be kept within a certain size limit if you don’t want to go through the process of organising planning permission.

At a detached home, an orangery cannot extend beyond 4 metres, and at a semi-detached or terraced property, it cannot extend beyond 3 metres.

For an orangery built at the side of a house, it needs to be no more than 4 metres high or no wider than half of its width.

In either of the aforementioned scenarios, planning permission must be obtained.

How Much Does It Cost to Get Planning Permission in the UK?

Submitting a planning application to your local authority to gain permission to build an orangery attracts a fee.

At the time of writing, it costs £258 for a householder to make alterations to a single property, which includes having work done within a home’s boundary (this can entail adding an orangery or other extension).

Planning applications can be made online via the Planning Portal, with the relevant fee forwarded through their payments system. Alternatively, download the application form and send it to your local council by email or post.

Eden Windows can assist with this and always has an answer to the recurring question of “do you need planning permission for an orangery?”.

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Everyone is welcome to come in and browse around our Gillingham Showroom in Kent, where our friendly sales team will be pleased to help with any questions you may have.

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