The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government consultation on changes to permitted development rights closed on 9 April 2024, having opened on 13 February 20241. The GOV.UK page for the same consultation, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, gives the closing time as 11:59pm on 9 April 2024 and states that it applies to England2. Both pages now describe the consultation as closed, and GOV.UK says "We are analysing your feedback"2.
The consultation covers proposed changes to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, as amended1. It sets out five areas: rights that enable householders to improve and enlarge their homes; building upwards rights; the right allowing demolition of certain buildings and rebuild as homes; rights covering electrical outlets and upstands for recharging electric vehicles; and the right for installing air source heat pumps1.
On householder development, the government said it was consulting on changes that "will enable householders to build larger extensions and provide further freedoms to construct outbuildings"2. On building upwards, it sought views on whether existing rights "can be amended to increase the scope of buildings that can benefit from the rights", and on demolition and rebuild it proposed increasing the scope of buildings covered and allowing a larger rebuild footprint2.
For electric vehicle charging, the consultation asked whether permitted development rights should allow units needed to operate charge points, such as equipment housing or storage cabinets2. For air source heat pumps, it consulted on removing the limitation that units must be at least 1 metre from the boundary of the property2.
Nesta, a research and innovation foundation, published its own response on 21 March 2024, before the consultation closed3. It said the UK "is 90% short of its annual target for installing heat pumps", that "Only 60,000 were installed last year, though we need to hit 600,000 annual installations by 2028", and cited Octopus Energy saying "27% of their customers wanting to install heat pumps have been told to apply for planning permission"3. It also said councils often require sound assessments costing around £1,000 and expensive architectural drawings3.
"The government's proposed changes to permitted development rights will help the vast majority of consumers to install a heat pump without going through the formal planning process."
Nesta said current noise regulations restrict heat pump noise to a maximum of 42dB within 1 metre of a neighbour's windows, and that "on balance, we think that the existing noise limit of 42dB is set at a reasonable level"3. It supported removing controls on heat pump size and numbers provided noise limits are kept, and said "The 1-metre rule, while initially intended to mitigate noise concerns, has proven to be an overly restrictive proxy measure for noise"3.
| Proposal in the consultation | Detail as published |
|---|---|
| Householder development | Larger extensions and further freedoms for outbuildings2 |
| Building upwards | Increase the scope of buildings that can benefit2 |
| Demolition and rebuild | Wider scope of buildings and a larger rebuild footprint2 |
| Electric vehicle charge points | Allow equipment housing or storage cabinets2 |
| Air source heat pumps | Remove the 1 metre boundary limitation2 |
Why it matters for households
Permitted development rights are what allow certain home energy equipment to be installed without a full planning application. The consultation's heat pump proposal goes to one of the conditions that most often pushes an installation into the formal planning process: the 1 metre boundary rule2. Nesta's figures suggest the practical stakes, with more than a quarter of one supplier's customers wanting a heat pump reportedly told to apply for planning permission3. The outcome also matters where a council has used an Article 4 Direction to withdraw permitted development rights in a specific area, since national changes do not automatically override local restrictions. The wider context of rights that have been withdrawn or abandoned is covered in the site's closed energy policies page, and the general framework sits in the regulation and policy hub.
What happens next
GOV.UK states that feedback is being analysed and that the outcome will be published on the consultation page2. No date for publication of the government response has been reported1.
Sources3 cited
- [Permitted development rights consultation: changes to support householder development, building upwards, demolition and rebuild, and the installation of electric vehicle charge points and air source heat pumps
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- Citizen Space](https://consult.communities.gov.uk/planning-development-management/permitted-development-rights-consultation-changes), consult.communities.gov.uk
- Changes to various permitted development rights: consultation - GOV.UK, gov.uk
- Planning is holding back heat pumps - here’s how to fix it | Nesta, nesta.org.uk