More and more we are seeing people who want to build their own home, who want to invest their hard earned cash in some land, and then design and style their very own custom home. This, coupled with a big rise in people who are looking to adapt their home to make it bigger or more stylish. Those who wish to carry out these jobs, will first have to get planning permission from the local government, which could certainly prove frustrating. Many people are not granted permission based on their designs and they then have to go back to the drawing board and create something which they love, that fits in with what the government or council are looking for. 

This begs the question of course, why do we need planning permission? To explore that further we caught up with industry expert Dino Tomassetti. 

Failure to Get Planning Permission 

First off let us start with what happens if you do not get planning permission but build anyway. The first thing that will happen once this is noticed, is that you will get a fine, and you will be asked to make changes to the build or to the property. If you fail to do this then you will soon be in front of a judge and having to plead your case. At best you will be hit with a huge fine and asked to make changes, at worst you’ll have to bring the construction down.

Respect for People and Environment 

 The main reason why planning permission is in place, is that it is there to protect the liberties of the people and the overall impact of the landscape. For example if you plan to build and extra floor of your home which impacts one of your neighbors, then you simply won’t be able to do it. After all, why should someone have to have their view blocked, or sunlight blocked, simply because someone else wishes to renovate their property? This infringes civil liberty. With regards to the landscape, there are some towns which want to maintain their Victorian style properties and do not wish to have swanky, modern townhouses built, equally there are rural areas which want the landscape protected. These are important reasons why planning permission is required. 

Utilities 

One aspect of planning permission which few recognize is the impact which it will have on the utilities of where you are building. For example if you are planning on building a huge house in a small town, you may find that there are objections based on the fact that your property may reduce water pressure or take up energy which then causes and impact on the rest of the town. 

Ultimately planning permission is in place to protect those around the property, this includes people, animals, natural settings and the systems in place to provide utilities. You should always be aware of what your responsibilities are before you decide to apply for permission.