Hopefully someone may be able to point me in the right direction having never had to deal with the (possible) horror of a council planning portal!

We have a large decked area out the back of the house which needs replacing, it was here when we moved in and must be at least 15 years old.
We’re going to get a proper patio built instead. The patio will actually be less area than the deck, it will extend as far out as the deck goes now but will be about half the width.
So far so easy.. but the garden drops steeply away from the rear of the house. from what I can see its fairly level from house for about 2m to what looks like an old retaining wall. the drop can only be about 30cm or so.
After this old retaining wall the ground slopes steeply. meaning the end of the deck (and patio) is about 1.9m above the ground which is where I’m getting a bit stuck.

The council website suggests we MAY need planning. As far as I can see they want £70 and a Web based submission to tell us if we do need planning.. I’ve no idea how much a planning application costs!
Builder also mentioned we may need building control involved as well as the drop from the edge of the proposed patio is more than 0.9m
We were obviously going to put a barrier (post and tension wire probably) but seemingly that may need clearance..

So as the decking is there already does our work fall under permitted development?
Do I just need to take a deep breath and go through the council process??

many thanks in advance!

Phone the planning authority – they may be able to tell you over the phone.

Ours does planning surgeries where you can go along and get an opinion/advice from one of the planning officers at no cost. Worth investigating and were helpful for us.

Ours does planning surgeries where you can go along and get an opinion/advice from one of the planning officers at no cost.

Ours (Herefordshire) used to do this until budget cuts meant they were stopped. You now have to do what the OP mentioned and pay for on line pre-planning advice. We did it when we had some building work done, we were advised in writing that we didn’t need planning which was worth the fee in case of any disputes. Still had to comply with building regs which added expense.

Decking needs planning permission if it’s more than 30cm above the ground. As it’s been there more than 4 years (without objection, I assume) you can claim ‘deemed’ planning permission even if none was applied for. Whether replacing it with a patio can be based on that I don’t know. Are you going to fill in the area under the patio, or is it a suspended slab (in which case it might count as concrete decking?). That’s as I understand the rules in England & Wales, if you’re in Scotland they may be different.

I’m not aware of anyone needing planning permission for decking(I’m in Scotland) or bothering, but you can find out for free and get very good advice by asking to speak to a planning officer, they will advise, having to notify the council of work being done doesn’t necessarily mean you need full panning permission.

If you need to apply you will need a building warrant, so that your builder complies with planning etc, and you pay for both unfortunately.

It already being there only matters if planning was sought and granted for it, if not makes no difference to a new application, they will ask about drains.

My local is closed due to covid but they communicate via email in the mean time, they will ask for pictures.

Phone the planning authority – they may be able to tell you over the phone

If they do you are lucky. I have had to deal with a few planning departments and although they used to give rough advice guidance the ones I have spoken to will now only do that under one of their advice application (I forget what they call it) starting at £160. If you want to actually talk to someone it starts at £240

There has to be planning rules for decking if it’s a sloping site imagine a 10′ high deck to keep it level and then overlooking the neighbours bedroom windae
I hate decking it often looks like a cheap spaghetti western film set and if north facing lethal to walk on. I say ban the stuff

I’m a planner. It’ll need a planning application. If you are replacing rather than ‘repairing’ 😉 then it is irrelevant if a structure exists there at present when assessing whether it needs consent or not. It is of course a ‘material consideration’ as part of the Council assessing the application, that the deck is already there. The General Permitted Development Order limits ‘raised platform(s)’ to no more than 0.3m in height – typically taken from the mean average ground level.

^ I’ll only charge £120 for that. £119.50 for Members;)

their advice application (I forget what they call it) starting at £160. If you want to actually talk to someone it starts at £240

For a tax funded service? that’s just not fair, I just email mine and pester them to bits, very helpful, they are astonishingly clueless about actual building though.

The General Permitted Development Order limits ‘raised platform(s)’ to no more than 0.3m in height – typically taken from the mean average ground level

Is a patio a ‘raised platform’?

thank you slowpuncheur and everyone else..

Looks like I’m going to have to deal with putting in an application.

I’ll chance my arm and call to see if anyone on the phone can help but I suspect, as mentioned that advice is now not free!

Cheers

Is a patio a ‘raised platform’?

Yes. It was a clause specifically inserted into the Order to address the issue of decking.

@MartynS give the Council a call and ask to speak to the duty planning officer. Many councils still operate one. You can forget that if you are within the M25 though! Good luck.

For a tax funded service? that’s just not fair

They are working for everyone else, particularly those who might be adversely impacted by the development. The person doing the development and benefiting from it can pay.

For a tax funded service? that’s just not fair

I think the argument against that is it’s not something everyone needs – why should other tax payers subsidise property development activities.

I think the OPs builder is also correct it will need a building warrant. That’s a service for keeping things safe – should that also be free?

I think the argument against that is it’s not something everyone needs – why should other tax payers subsidise property development activities.

I think the OPs builder is also correct it will need a building warrant. That’s a service for keeping things safe – should that also be free?

The point being that they are already paying it, those needing general advice are not property developers, in this case just a tax paying, council supporting citizen that want’s to build a patio, can the council not stretch to giving them advice on how to do that? or have we reached the point where tax payers resent councils giving free information on their time?