Householder planning applications in Bournemouth

Figures checked against official sources on 15 September 2026.

What counts as a householder application

A householder application is for work to an existing house, or within its garden, for purposes connected with living in the house. It covers:

• Extensions to the side or rear, single or two storey
• Loft conversions with dormers or other changes to the roof
• Porches, garages and garden rooms
• Annexes used as part of the main house
• Walls, fences, gates and new vehicle access
• Prior approval for a larger single-storey rear extension

Flats and maisonettes are not houses for this purpose, so most external changes to a flat need a full planning application. Anything that changes the use of the property or the number of homes in it is also a full application: splitting a house into flats, building a separate dwelling in the garden, or a change of use such as a house in multiple occupation. The application type matters because it sets the Council fee, the information required and, if permission is refused, the appeal deadline.

Do you need planning permission at all?

Many extensions, loft conversions and outbuildings are permitted development. They can go ahead without an application if they stay within national limits set by the General Permitted Development Order. Our guide to permitted development covers the full picture.

Single-storey rear extensions

• Up to 3 metres beyond the original rear wall of an attached house, or 4 metres for a detached house
• Up to 6 metres, or 8 metres for a detached house, through the prior approval route, where the Council consults the neighbours and decides within 42 days
• No more than 4 metres high

When permission is usually needed

• An extension of more than one storey within 7 metres of the rear boundary
• A dormer on the front roof slope facing the road, or more than 40 cubic metres of extra roof space on a terraced house, 50 on other houses
• Work in a conservation area or national landscape, or where an Article 4 direction applies
• Work to a listed building, which also needs listed building consent
• A house whose permitted development rights were removed by condition, which is common on newer estates
• Any external change to a flat or maisonette, which has no householder permitted development rights

Every limit is measured from the house as it was first built, so earlier extensions count against the allowance.

Every limit and condition: Permitted development rights for householders: technical guidance, GOV.UK.

Your application is also your appeal case

For applications submitted from 1 April 2026, most appeals are decided only on the application the Council saw. If a householder application is refused, new evidence cannot normally be added at appeal.

What decides a householder application

Householder applications are not decided on whether the officer likes the design. They are decided on a short list of impacts, and the planning statement deals with each one before the objection arrives.

• Impact on neighbours. Loss of light, outlook and privacy. Most Councils apply a rule of thumb such as the 45 degree test to windows in habitable rooms. This is the most common reason a householder application fails.
• Scale and subservience. Whether the extension reads as part of the house or overwhelms it: set-down ridges, set-back side extensions, matching materials.
• Character of the area. What the street looks like, and whether the proposal steps out of that pattern. The test is stricter in conservation areas.
• Heritage. Harm to a conservation area, a listed building or its setting.
• Trees, parking and flood risk. Loss of protected trees, lost parking spaces, or building in a higher-risk flood zone.

Objections from neighbours only count where they raise planning points like these. Property values and private disputes are not planning matters.

How your householder application works

One qualified and experienced planning consultant runs your application from the first check to the decision. We aim to have it ready for your approval within two weeks of instruction.

1. Check the property. Planning history, conservation area and listed building status, tree preservation orders, flood risk, and any Article 4 direction or condition that removes permitted development rights. Then we confirm whether you need an application at all.
2. Prepare the application. Application form, ownership certificate, planning statement and any heritage or design statement the Council's local list requires, co-ordinated with your designer's drawings. You approve everything before it goes in.
3. Submit and manage it. We submit the application, deal with validation and follow the neighbour consultation, which normally runs for 21 days. We answer the case officer and negotiate amendments where they help the scheme get approved.
4. After the decision. We explain the decision and any conditions, and handle discharge of conditions or a non-material amendment if the design changes. If the Council refuses, we advise on an appeal or a revised scheme within the 12-week window.

What the Council needs from you

National rules set the core documents. Each Council adds its own local validation list, and the 8-week decision period only starts once the application is valid.

• The completed application form and the Council fee
• An ownership certificate, with notice served on any other owners
• A location plan, usually at 1:1250 or 1:2500, with the site edged in red
• A site or block plan showing the proposal and the boundaries
• Existing and proposed floor plans and elevations, with roof plans where the roof changes
• Supporting statements where the site calls for them, such as a heritage statement in a conservation area, a tree report or a flood risk assessment

Scaled drawings come from your architect, architectural designer or surveyor. We do not sell drawings. We work alongside your designer, or recommend one, and check the drawings against the Council's requirements before anything is submitted. Householder applications are exempt from biodiversity net gain, so no biodiversity metric is needed.

What a householder application costs

Our fee is fixed and confirmed in writing before work starts. Council fees are set nationally and rise each April in line with inflation.

Source: Planning Portal, English planning application fees from 1 April 2026.

How long it takes

The statutory clock starts when the Council has a valid application, so a complete submission saves weeks.