Selling Without Planning Permission

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The process of getting planning permission can be complicated and it might sometimes be unclear whether you need to obtain it for a specific alteration that you want to make to your home. Read the guide below for some of the information that you need to know about what to do in the event that you want to sell your home but didn’t get planning permission when altering it. Be sure to obtain professional advice before making any decisions.

1. What is planning permission?
2. How to get planning permission
3. What happens if you have made a change to your home without planning permission?
4. Will a lack of planning permission reduce the sale value of your property?
5. How to sell your home without planning permission?
6. Deciding the right option for selling your house or flat without planning permission
7. Frequently asked questions about selling a home without planning permission

What is planning permission?

As the UK government’s website explains, planning permission is authorisation that you need to apply for in order to make a significant physical change to your property such as an extension or renovation.

In addition to planning permission being required for all significant work done on a house or flat, it is almost always mandatory (listed building consent) if you own a listed building and want to alter it. These are properties of historic or architectural importance that have special designations of Grade I, Grade II or Grade II* that impose certain restrictions on what you can and cannot do to them.

How to get planning permission

There are two ways that you can obtain planning permission; apply before you start work on a change to your home, or seek permission after the work is completed. The latter option will likely require more time and effort and could be harder for you to secure.

The rules for planning permission are established through the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, which was amended in 2008 by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (No. 2) (England). These regulations specify what does, and does not, require planning permission.

You can make perform some permitted development works at your property that are sometimes exempt from having to first obtain planning permission. Check carefully with your local authority to make sure your planned works can be done without planning permission.

Planning permission is often required for large extensions and alterations. You will find detailed guidance on the exact requirements on your local authority website and by speaking with your local planning department.

If you want to get planning permission –regardless of whether that’s before you have work done or after the fact – then you will need to submit an application to your local planning authority, and you can expect the process to take between eight and 13 weeks or more. The more complex the project, the longer that the process will likely take.

What happens if you have made a change to your home without planning permission?

If you have built an extension on your property that needed planning permission, but you never applied for such approval from your local authority, it is considered an illegal addition. This can have the effect of making it impossible for a buyer to obtain a mortgage to buy the home.

Should the local authority find out about the illegal development, they might pursue an enforcement against the property that can result in you having to pay significant fees. That’s a further reason why mortgage lenders might be hesitant to give anyone a loan to buy your home.

However, you can potentially overcome this problem by purchasing indemnity insurance. This covers a buyer against any costs associated with a future enforcement action, including the expense of removing an extension. And many mortgage companies will accept proof of such insurance to cover buyers, clearing the way for them to make an offer on your property.

Note that if you finished the extension or other alteration to your property more than four years ago and you’ve never faced an enforcement action from the local authority, you might be in the clear because they might have missed the deadline for pursuing a case against you. This doesn’t mean that your change to the home is now legal, but it does protect a future buyer against any action from the local authority even without indemnity insurance.

You’re more likely to face challenges selling your home if the extension was done within the last four years, because the local authority could still pursue an enforcement action against you.

Will a lack of planning permission reduce the sale value of your property?

Not necessarily, because as described above if the extension was finished more than four years ago, mortgage companies might not be hesitant to lend money to buyers to purchase the property – and as a result your sale value may not be affected.

But if the extension is still within the time period that a local authority can file an enforcement case against you, there is the risk that this could reduce the sale value of your property because some buyers, and mortgage lenders, might be concerned about future litigation.

How to sell your home without planning permission?

If you realise that work you have done at your property, such as adding an extension, should have received planning permission for which you never applied, there are a couple of options for how to proceed once you decide that it’s time to find a buyer for your property.

You could try to apply for retroactive planning permission for whatever project you have built at your home. There are organisations that offer advice to citizens on how to do this, as well as more general information about the planning process, including Planning Aid England. This organisation is funded by the Royal Town Planning Institute charity and they could be useful to contact should you wish to file an application for permission for work that you’ve had done. However, this could potentially be a very lengthy and costly process, and therefore this might not be possible for you to do if you are looking to sell your house or flat as quickly as possible.

If you can’t afford the time and money to obtain planning permission, you may still be able to sell your home, so long as you are honest with buyers about the situation.

Before selling your property, you should compile a list of all of the types and dimensions of alterations that you have made to the home. These statistics can be useful for proving to the buyer that the changes are exempt from having to obtain planning permission.

Another option is to apply to the local authority for a Lawful Development Certificate, which is a statement from the authority confirming that a specific alteration at your home complies with the relevant laws and rules on planning permission. But this can sometimes be a time-consuming process and there will be a cost to apply for a certificate.

Many homeowners who try to sell a property without planning permission will instead pay for an indemnity insurance policy. These may cost between £100 and £500 or more and they provide the buyer of your property protection against any fees or other costs that they would otherwise have to pay due to the local authority pursuing enforcement against the home for lack of planning permission. In order to qualify for such a policy you’ll have to prove that the work was done more than a year ago, and that the home has been a residential property during that time.

Note that in order to obtain an indemnity insurance policy you must also be able to demonstrate that you haven’t spoken to your local authority about your house or flat for at least three months.

Deciding the right option for selling your house or flat without planning permission

Once you are ready to sell your home, you will need to decide to do so through an auction house, using the services of an estate agent, or selling to a quick cash home buyer.

Auction house

Property auction houses can be useful for selling a wide variety of properties, including those in need of repair or that lack planning permission. The auctioneer will also take care of marketing your home, so that relieves you of any pressure in trying to find a buyer.

Another benefit of a property auction is the fact that a winning high bid on your home is considered to be a binding agreement to purchase it, and you can enforce that with litigation.

But there are some drawbacks of selling using this method, including potential delays. You might have to possibly wait a few weeks or longer between when you enter your home for sale in an auction and when the sale takes place. And there could be a further wait of more than a month after the auction whilst the mandatory legal documents for the sale are completed.

A further con of using an auctioneer is that they will charge you fees for selling your home, which you will then have to subtract from the total profit you’ll make from the sale.

Estate agent

Using the services of an estate agent to sell your home can be beneficial because they will handle the listing and advertising of your house or flat in order to generate interest from potential buyers. But you’ll have to agree to viewings where people come to visit your home, which can disrupt your home life. And it’s not uncommon for properties to sold via this option to remain on the market without any offers for many months.

Some estate agents might also be wary of trying to sell a home with planning permission, so you might have to spend a lot of time finding one who is willing to market such a property.

And like property auctioneers, estate agents will also charge you commission if they find a buyer for your home, which will cut into the total profit you can make from selling your home.

Quick cash home buyer

Fast cash home buyers, such as LDN Properties, are able to make straightforward and hassle-free offers to purchase a huge range of houses and flats for a speedy cash payment.

There are several benefits of selling to a quick property buyer, including the fact that they will consider almost any type of house or flat – even those that lack planning permission.

Another pro of selling using this method is that you won’t need to host any viewings, because you’ll be dealing one-on-one with the representatives from the property buying company.

And most quick property buyers don’t charge any fees, so you’ll have the added bonus of knowing that you’ll receive the full profit from the final cash offer they make to buy your home.

Frequently asked questions about selling a home without planning permission

When planning permission hasn’t been obtained by home owners, here are some of the key questions and answers we’re often asked: