In a welcome bit of joined-up government thinking, the departments of energy and climate change and of communities and local government have clarified that the installation of external solid wall insulation constitutes an 'improvement' to a house rather than an 'enlargement' or 'extension'. This means that in many cases the installation can be carried out under permitted development, and a planning application may not be needed.
 


This will be a relief to many people who had been told that they would have to get planning permission to insulate their houses if the "enlarged part of the dwellinghouse would extend beyond a wall which i) fronts a highway and ii) forms either the principal elevation or a side elevation of the original dwellinghouse".

This clarification to the guidance can be found in the Permitted Development for Householders: Technical Guidance on the Planning Portal. Click here to download a copy. The relevant section is A.1 (d) on page 13 of the guide. It states: "Installation of solid wall insulation constitutes an improvement rathe than an enlargement or exetnsion to the dwellinghouse and is not caught by the provisions of d(i) and d(ii).


This technical clarification is separate to the consultation exercise DCLG has recently carried out on changing the size limits for householder extensions. An announcement on the outcome of that consultation will be made in due course, and the technical guidance will be updated at that time to reflect any changes being taken forward.


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