Planning permissions for home upgrades
Many home upgrades are ‘permitted development’, meaning you don’t need planning permission. However, some measures will need planning permission, and in listed buildings you may also need listed building consent.
Examples of when you may need planning permission
Upgrades that sometimes require planning permission or listed building consent include:
- Heat pumps
- Double or triple glazing
- Solar PV or solar thermal panels
Upgrades that nearly always require planning permission or listed building consent include:
- External wall insulation
We recognise that the planning process can make retrofitting your home seem complicated. To support our residents in this area, the Council offers discounted pre-application advice to householders on retrofit measures including heat pumps, window glazing and solar panels.
'How-to' guides
We are also developing ‘how-to’ guides with practical advice on a range of home retrofit measures commonly proposed in Westminster. for upgrades like heat pumps. The guides will help you determine whether planning permission will be required, and provide advice on meeting any planning requirements.
The current guides include advice on:
Further information and advice can be found on our dedicated planning webpages.
Page 116 of the document has a helpful table of different retrofit measures and whether they are likely to require any permissions. You can also find more useful information on our dedicated planning webpages.