Most single-storey extensions in East Yorkshire do not actually need planning permission, but plenty do, and getting it wrong can mean tearing work down at your own cost. Here is a plain guide to the rules as they apply locally, whether your home falls under East Riding of Yorkshire Council or Hull City Council.
Many extensions are covered by permitted development rights, which are national rules letting you extend without a planning application as long as you stay inside set limits. For a single-storey rear extension on a semi-detached or terraced house, that means projecting no more than 3 metres from the original rear wall. Detached houses get 4 metres. The maximum height is 4 metres overall, dropping to 3 metres for a flat roof, and if you build within 2 metres of a boundary the eaves must stay under 3 metres.
There is also the larger home extension route, sometimes called prior approval, which allows up to 6 metres on attached houses and 8 metres on detached ones. It is not a free pass: you notify the council first, they consult your neighbours for 21 days, and if someone objects the council decides whether the impact is acceptable. In our experience around Hull, Beverley and Cottingham, most of these go through without fuss, but it adds a few weeks to your timeline.
Some situations take you straight out of permitted development. Anything extending forward of the front wall facing a road needs permission, as do two-storey extensions that come within 7 metres of the rear boundary. Side extensions are limited to single storey, no more than half the width of the original house, and 4 metres high at most. Go beyond any of these and you are applying.
Location matters too. If you live in a conservation area, and East Riding has dozens, including parts of Beverley, Hessle, Hedon and several villages along the Wolds, side extensions and cladding are restricted and rear extensions face tighter rules. Listed buildings need listed building consent for almost any alteration. Some newer estates also had permitted development rights removed by the original planning condition, which catches a lot of people out. It is worth checking your deeds or asking the council before assuming anything.
One more local wrinkle: the word original means the house as first built or as it stood in 1948. If a previous owner already extended, that allowance may be partly or fully used up, even though you never built anything yourself.
The safest route is a lawful development certificate. It is a formal confirmation from the council that your extension is legal without planning permission, and it costs roughly half the fee of a full application. It is not compulsory, but it is valuable when you sell, because solicitors increasingly ask for proof that extensions were lawful.
If you do need a full householder application, the fee in England is currently around £528, and councils aim to decide within 8 weeks. Add drawings from a designer or architectural technician, typically £500 to £1,500 depending on complexity, and budget realistically for a 2 to 4 month lead-in before work starts. East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Hull City Council both offer pre-application advice for a modest fee, which is money well spent on anything borderline.
Whatever the planning position, almost every extension needs building regulations approval. That covers foundations, structure, insulation, drainage, electrics and escape windows, and it is inspected in stages as the build progresses. Around Hull and Holderness, clay soils and high water tables often mean deeper foundations than the standard 1 metre, and your building control officer may ask for a soil check near trees.
A decent builder will handle the building control process for you and should be relaxed about you verifying the planning position first. If anyone tells you not to bother checking because nobody will notice, walk away. Enforcement can require unauthorised work to be altered or removed, and unresolved breaches surface at the worst possible moment, usually when you are trying to sell.
Councils aim to decide householder applications within 8 weeks of validation, though extensions to that period are common if issues arise. Prior approval for larger single-storey extensions runs to a 42 day deadline. Build in extra time for preparing drawings before you submit.
Usually not. A porch under 3 square metres and 3 metres high, set at least 2 metres from a boundary with a highway, is exempt, and conservatories follow the same rules as any other single-storey extension. Conservation areas and listed buildings are the main exceptions.
Not on their own. If your extension is within permitted development limits, neighbours have no formal say at all. On a full application or prior approval, the council must consider their comments, but objections only carry weight if they raise genuine planning issues such as loss of light or overbearing impact.