A pre-purchase planning report costs from £185 at Fixed Fee Plans, and the fee is credited against our drawing service if you buy and go ahead. We read the property's planning history, check its designations and tell you in writing what you could add and what to worry about, before you exchange.
The house you are about to buy may have an extension that was never approved. It may sit in a conservation area your estate agent did not mention, or have lost its permitted development rights because of a direction or a condition. Each of those changes the price you should pay, and each can be found in a few hours at the council's register.
What can go wrong with a property's planning history?
Three things, mostly. An extension or loft was built without permission or building regulations approval. A permission exists but has lapsed, or has conditions that were never met. Or rights you assumed you had were taken away. None shows on the listing, and not all show on the solicitor's searches, which answer different questions.
The law is more forgiving than people fear, and less than they hope. In England, enforcement action against building work and a change of use to a single dwelling is barred ten years after completion or the breach, under section 171B, for breaches from 25 April 2024, so an old extension may be safe. A planning permission lapses unless development begins within three years, under section 91, so a consent granted years ago may be worthless. We read what is on the register and tell you which case you are in.
What will the report tell me about extending?
Which routes are open and which are closed, in plain words. For a house, we look at whether permitted development rights are intact. A council can remove them by an article 4 direction, so a neighbour's extension that needed no application tells you nothing about yours. For a flat there are none for householder extensions: the Order says a dwellinghouse does not include a building containing flats, or a flat within one.
Then the designations. A listed building needs listed building consent for works that affect its special interest, under section 7 of the 1990 Act, and a conservation area changes the tests the council applies. A flood zone may mean a flood risk assessment, and a protected tree may affect where an extension can go. Our constraints report is the lighter product that lists only designations; the pre-purchase report adds history and options.
What if the extension was never approved?
You learn that before you buy, which is the point. The report names the extension and what the register shows, and the possible fixes follow. If the work is old enough, a certificate of lawfulness under section 191 proves it is lawful. If the work is recent and unapproved, a retrospective application may be needed, and if building control never signed it off, a regularisation certificate.
None of this is a reason not to buy. It is a reason to adjust the price, or to ask the seller to put it right first, or to know the cost of doing so yourself. GOV.UK warns that without building regulations approval you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you sell, which is a problem you inherit. Your solicitor should still do the legal searches and read the title; this report is about what the planning system says, not about ownership.
What does the report not cover?
It is not a legal search and not a survey. It does not look at the structure, the roof, the damp or the title, and it does not replace a solicitor's local authority search. It reads public planning records and the legislation and gives you a view. Where the register is incomplete, for example older records held only on paper, we say so and tell you what to ask the seller.
Our fee is from £185, and it is a floor: a large property or a long history is quoted in writing. If you go ahead and buy, the fee is credited against our drawing service, and our feasibility study tests the extension you have in mind against permitted development limits and policy. For a first look, our permitted development checker is free.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check whether an extension had planning permission?
The council's planning register lists applications and decisions by address. We read it, compare the approved drawings with what is built and tell you in the report if the extension has no consent on record.
Is the report credited if I buy?
Yes. The fee is credited against our drawing service if you go ahead with the property and with us.
Can I rely on a neighbour's extension as proof I can build one?
No. A neighbour may have had permission, or a different rights position, or an article 4 direction may not have applied then. The report looks at your property's rights, not the street's.
Does the report replace my solicitor's searches?
No. It covers what the planning records show. Your solicitor handles title, leases, drainage and the formal local authority search.