Do You Need Planning Permission for an Orangery?

No, you typically do not need planning permission for an orangery if it falls within permitted development rights, which cover certain sizes and locations on your property. However, specific conditions and local regulations can apply, especially in designated areas or for listed buildings.

orangery planning permission
Planning Permission for an Orangery

On the face of it, an orangery has a certain similarity to a conservatory, but explored closely it has less glass and more brickwork, and a lot of orangeries feature a flatter roof with a glass lantern.

It is strongly inadvisable to go ahead with the construction of this most exquisite structure without the obtaining of orangery planning permission when necessary because it can lead to various complications. It could force you into making expensive modifications and then having to submit a retrospective planning application, or worse still, be told to knock it down completely. 

These nightmare scenarios won’t transpire with Clearview in charge of the undertaking. 

Understanding Planning Permission for an Orangery

Planning permission is unlikely to be paramount in your thoughts when wanting to progress with an orangery installation and some are oblivious to the importance of orangery planning permission. 

Employing Clearview for an orangery project requires no knowledge or awareness of planning permission from you as we know the rules exhaustively, but it’s still helpful for you to have some grasp of it. 

The size of an orangery mustn’t reach higher than the tallest point of your home’s roof to be exempt from planning permission, whilst orangeries forward of the front or side of an existing house and facing onto a road do require it.

We’ll give you a comprehensive overview of planning permission once we meet with you so that you’re nearly as clued up on it as we are, going into how the location of the orangery relative to your property and land area around it can influence matters. 

Factors Influencing Planning Permission for an Orangery

A typical customer question to Clearview will be “do you need planning permission for an orangery?” and it’s all dependent on a series of factors. 

A definite “no” is the answer if the orangery is consistent with the guidelines to be categorised as a permitted development, meeting the criteria of it not covering more than 50% of the land around the ‘original house’, amongst other things (we’ll go through the complete criteria at a design appointment). 

Orangeries spanning no more than eight metres away from the rear wall of a detached property or six metres in the case of a semi-detached or terraced house fall within permitted development rights. 

Homes with listed status or that have an Article 4 Direction imposed on them have their permitted development rights removed, giving rise to planning permission being required for orangery constructions.

Building Regulations for Orangeries

Planning permission and building regulations are not the same thing and need to be treated separately to avoid running into any complications or upsetting your local planning authority. 

The purpose of planning permission is to evaluate whether a development, such as an orangery, obeys entrenched policies and infringes on neighbouring homes in a negative manner.  

Building regulations approval is something rather different and is more focused on ensuring the structural integrity, safety, and accessibility of a new development. 

Both may be needed, or one of the other, or neither. Just don’t make the error of mistakenly believing that planning consent also grants building control acceptance, or vice-versa, as each is subject to limits and conditions. 

Costs and Processes for Orangery Planning Permission

Visit the Planning Portal website to uncover what the cost of orangery planning permission will be and to submit your application when seeking authority approval, if indeed it’s necessary. 

For convenience, we can tell you here that at present, submission of a full planning permission application in England is £624, with it costing £258 to tender a full application for an extension to a single dwelling house.

It must disclose details of the proposed materials, include accurate drawings of the planned design, and contain any stipulated supporting documentation. 

Eight weeks is the average waiting time to receive notification if an application has been successful, but it can extend to 13 weeks for large or complex projects. 

Professional Advice on Planning Permission for an Orangery

Orangeries that stick within the parameters set out in planning permission obligations are exempt from planning permission as they enjoy Permitted Development status, but you must never just assume that a design conforms to the rules. 

We urge you to seek professional guidance and consult with your local planning authority about planning permission for orangery extensions, whose significant experience or trusted sources will confirm where you stand with it. 

They, better than anyone, understand the legal constraints attached to the area in which you live and will also verify any exemption from building regulation too. 

As part of our service offering, Clearview can manage all this for you, making contact with the powers that be to ascertain if a planning application needs putting together.

Visit our Helpful Guides page to download our invaluable guide to Planning Permission.

Your Questions, Answered

How big can an orangery be without planning permission?

There are limits on how expansive in size an orangery can be before it no longer falls within permitted development rights and you are then obligated to draft and submit an application for planning permission to your local authority. 

Seeking authority approval is not necessary if an orangery doesn’t not extend more than half of your garden space or land and the height of the structure mustn’t exceed more than 4 metres (restricted to 3 metres when within 2 metres of a boundary) or beyond the highest part of your home’s roof.

Keep inside these guidelines and permitted development rights apply, granting you authorisation to move ahead with the installation of an orangery. 

Building regulations are something separate to planning permission for orangeries and these must be met too. 

Consult with ourselves or the local planning committee for further clarification about orangery size limits. 

Do I need planning permission to replace a conservatory with an orangery?

Your taste or living needs may have evolved since you had your conservatory fitted, causing you to look into an orangery as a replacement location for leisure or entertaining. 

Should the orangery comply with the criteria relating to permitted development rights, planning approval needn’t be sought, but it is prudent to speak with your local planning department to gain confirmation first.

Were you to just modify the conservatory to add a new solid roof, for example, rather than undergo a conversion from conservatory to orangery, planning permission isn’t usually needed, although building control approval might be. 

There can be great value in calling time on your conservatory in favour of an orangery when it’s done well and is in line with the rules. 

Do you need a door between an orangery and house?

Ordinarily, it is a requirement that you include a separating door between an orangery and the rest of a property. 

A major reason why is for fire safety, so that if a fire breaks out in the orangery, it doesn’t then spread elsewhere, preventing damage to the household or harm to people’s health. Under legislation, the door has to be fire-rated, demonstrating in testing that it can stop the spreading of fire for at least 30 minutes, containing no gaps between the door and frame, and be easily operational to ensure an easy exit. 

Door placement is also essential for sustaining a comfortable room temperature in a conservatory, keeping any heat produced contained inside so that it isn’t lost. 

An orangery that is completely open to the rest of a house may be exempt from having a separating door. 

Do I need an architect for an orangery?

You perhaps would if you were to employ an orangery installer other than Clearview as not all of them have a workforce like ours that can take care of drawings, specifications, and structural calculations. 

Our architectural expertise also assures you of an orangery design that is fully compliant with the guidelines as orangeries are subject to limits and conditions that we urge mustn’t be breached. 

That’s not to say we are against you using an external architect, should you wish to, as we can assess their drawings and look to realise them, but having Clearview organise the planning and design of your orangery, along with everything else, makes life a lot easier for you. 

Visit your local Clearview Showroom

Everyone is welcome to come in and browse around our Preston showroom in Lancashire, or our Nantwich & Warrington showrooms in Cheshire, where our friendly sales team will be pleased to help with any questions you may have.

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Our friendly team will be pleased to help with any questions you may have.

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