Can you extend? Check the rules on your street first
Before you pay for drawings, find out whether your home is in a conservation area, under an Article 4 direction, listed, near protected trees or in a flood zone. These are the things that most often limit permitted development.
What can limit what you do to your home
- A conservation area. Some permitted development rights are restricted, for example on cladding and some extensions.
- An Article 4 direction. Your council may have removed particular permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application may need one.
- A listed building. Listed building consent is needed for most alterations, inside and out, whether or not planning permission is needed.
- A tree preservation order. You need the council’s consent before cutting back or removing a protected tree.
- Flooding. Flood zone or flood likelihood can change what the council asks for with an application.
Flats and maisonettes do not have the same permitted development rights as houses, and the rules differ in England, Wales and Scotland. The result says which nation your property is in.
What the free check tells you
Enter your postcode or address. The free check shows whether the property is in a conservation area, which council it falls under, and basic flood risk. You get 3 free checks a day, with no sign-up.
The site report is £9.99, one-off, with VAT included. It covers everything we can check within 500 m of your pin, for 30 days. The report link never expires. Each line has its source, and anything we couldn’t check is marked, not left looking clear.
What it does not replace
Planning Constraints is a screening tool. It cannot tell you whether you will get permission, and it is not professional advice. Your council can confirm what applies to your property, through pre-application advice or a lawful development certificate, which confirms that proposed work is lawful.
It is also not the set of official searches a buyer’s solicitor orders after an offer, such as a CON29 or an LLC1. If you are buying, your solicitor will arrange those.
Some councils do not publish every dataset, so where it matters, ask the council. Northern Ireland is not covered. For the thinking behind each check, read the planning guides.