Planning and permitted development

What changed in householder planning between 2024 and 2026?

Short answer

The changes that matter most to householders in England since April 2024 are: the enforcement time limit for unauthorised building work rising from 4 to 10 years (25 April 2024); householder application fees roughly doubling to £528 (1 April 2025) and then rising with inflation to £548 (1 April 2026); wider permitted development for air source heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers (29 May 2025); rewritten solar panel rules, which take rooftop solar on a listed house out of permitted development (27 August 2026); and a restructured National Planning Policy Framework (17 August 2026).

The log below is newest first. Each entry says what changed and where to read it. Anything not yet in force is marked as proposed.

The log

DateWhat changedWhat it means for a householder
8 December 2026 (proposed)Draft fees regulations (ISBN 978-0-348-28662-5), not yet approved or madeHouseholder application £575, householder prior approval £310. Applications made before the date would pay the old fee. See fees and timescales.
27 August 2026SI 2026/896 rewrites Part 14, Classes A and B (solar)Separate limits for houses and flats. On a house, wall panels may stand 0.4 m proud unless the wall abuts a highway (then 0.2 m). Plug-in solar is included, but not on timber-clad walls or wooden balconies and enclosures. In a conservation area or World Heritage Site, nothing on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a highway. Panels on a listed house are no longer permitted development (before, only buildings in its curtilage were excluded). Work permitted under the old rules may still be carried out until the end of 26 August 2027. See solar panels.
17 August 2026New National Planning Policy Framework publishedReplaces the December 2024 Framework and the separate traveller sites policy. Decision-making policies apply from the day of publication (Annex A).
25 June 2026Minister's letter to the 164 councils that charge the Community Infrastructure LevyAcknowledges householders losing extension, annex and self-build exemptions through procedural errors. Promises a consultation on changing the regulations, and reminds councils of their discretion over enforcement and ex gratia payments. The letter did not change the regulations. See how householders lose CIL exemptions.
9 April 2026SI 2026/313 amends the OrderThe Order's definition of the Framework now means the December 2024 edition, including for the Class AA (extra storeys) prior approval test. The other changes do not affect houses.
1 April 2026Fees rise 3.8% with inflationHouseholder application £548, prior approval £249, certificate for proposed householder work £274.
1 April 2026New appeal procedure for applications made from this dateMost appeals follow the "part 1" written procedure: no new evidence at appeal, and neighbours cannot comment again. The application itself has to make the whole case. See planning refused.
18 February 2026First planning sections of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 in forcePowers to add a surcharge to planning fees (section 52), require councillor training (section 53) and set rules for delegating decisions (section 54(1)). The power for councils to set their own fees (section 51) is in force only for making regulations. None changes a householder fee by itself.
18 December 2025Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 receives Royal AssentMost planning provisions need commencement regulations.
29 May 2025SI 2025/560 amends Part 14, Class G (air source heat pumps) and Part 2, Classes D and E (electric vehicle chargers)Heat pumps: the rule keeping every part 1 m from the boundary is removed; a detached house may have two units, other houses one; the outdoor unit on a house may be up to 1.5 cubic metres (was 0.6); and the condition is now that the unit is not used solely for cooling (before, heating only), so a unit that heats and cools can qualify. The listed building and conservation area limits are unchanged. Chargers: the bar on a wall outlet or upstand within 2 m of a highway is removed; the listed building curtilage exclusion stays. See heat pumps and EV chargers.
1 April 2025SI 2025/342 raises feesHouseholder application from £258 to £528; householder prior approval from £120 to £240. Annual inflation increases begin.
December 2024Revised National Planning Policy FrameworkReplaced on 17 August 2026.
25 April 2024Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 enforcement changes commenced (SI 2024/452)Unauthorised building work substantially completed on or after this date can be enforced against for 10 years, not 4. Also: enforcement warning notices, temporary stop notices lasting up to 56 days, and temporary stop notices for listed buildings. See the 10-year enforcement rule.

Just before the period, on 6 December 2023, the free resubmission after a refusal or withdrawal ended, and councils became liable to refund a householder fee if no decision is made within 16 weeks and no extension was agreed (SI 2023/1197).

The August 2026 Framework

The new Framework is titled "Plan-making and national decision-making policies". It has 20 chapters, and its policies carry codes instead of running paragraph numbers: PM1 to PM17 for plan-making, DM1 to DM10 for decision-making, and a set for each topic, such as HE1 to HE10 for the historic environment. Annexes A to F cover implementation, the glossary, information requirements, housing calculations, Green Belt assessments and flood risk.

Three policies touch householders directly:

  • DM10 limits article 4 directions to where they are needed to protect local amenity or wellbeing, giving small houses in multiple occupation as an example. See article 4 directions.
  • DM8 says that where unauthorised development is shown to have been intentional, that should be given substantial weight when deciding a retrospective application.
  • HE6 lists "enabling energy efficiency and low carbon heating measures to be employed" among the public benefits that can be weighed against harm to a listed building or other designated heritage asset.

Older decision letters, officer reports and council guidance cite paragraph numbers from the 2024 or earlier Frameworks. Those numbers do not map onto the 2026 codes.

Parallel ArchitectureLaw checked 29 September 2026How we write these guides

Related questions

Sources

  1. Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 171B (time limits) legislation.gov.uk
  2. SI 2024/452 (commencement and transitional provisions) legislation.gov.uk
  3. SI 2025/342 (fees amendment, 1 April 2025) legislation.gov.uk
  4. GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 14 (renewable energy), as amended by SI 2025/560 and SI 2026/896 legislation.gov.uk
  5. SI 2025/560 (heat pump and electric vehicle charger amendments) legislation.gov.uk
  6. SI 2026/896 (solar amendments and transitional provision) legislation.gov.uk
  7. SI 2026/313 (GPDO amendments, 9 April 2026) legislation.gov.uk
  8. Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, section 118 (commencement) legislation.gov.uk
  9. Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (annual indexation) gov.uk
  10. Draft Fees (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 legislation.gov.uk
  11. National Planning Policy Framework, August 2026 gov.uk
  12. Community Infrastructure Levy charges on householders: letter to local authorities, 25 June 2026 gov.uk
  13. Planning Inspectorate: procedural guide for appeals on applications dated on or after 1 April 2026 gov.uk
  14. SI 2023/1197 (fees amendment, 6 December 2023) legislation.gov.uk

Where next

Free toolPermitted development checkerTests an extension, loft, porch or outbuilding against the permitted development limits of Classes A to G and AA.From the practicePlanning potential reviewA desk review of one address: designations, planning history, permitted development and the likely route.