Do I Need Planning Permission to Move My Front Door? All the Answers You Need

Our comprehensive guide is going to cover the issue of planning permission to move a front door from every angle. We’ll cover what type of work usually does and doesn’t require permission, as well as discussing other factors you’ll need to consider and talking about building regulations. Read on, and you’ll get the answers you need.

Permitted Development Rights: Key to Understanding if you Need Planning Permission for Your New Front Door

Permitted Development Rights are rights set down by the UK government’s General Permitted Development Order. They allow certain building works or changes to a homeowner’s property without the need for planning permission.

The idea is to make it easier and faster to complete projects that aren’t significant enough or likely to have a large enough impact to justify the hassle of planning permission. So, how does this apply to your plan to replace or move your external door?

When You Don’t Need Planning Permission for a New Front Door

Thanks to Permitted Development Rights, there are several front door-related jobs and projects you can undertake without needing planning permission. For example, you can usually:

• Repaint your front door, even if you change the colour.
• Perform repairs, maintenance and make minor improvements, such as installing internal secondary glazing.
• Replace the door with a new one of a similar appearance to, and the same size as, the original door from when your property was built. For instance, replacing an older door with a modern composite door fitted in the same opening.
• Build a porch in front of your front door, as long as it covers an area of less than three square metres.

When You Often Do Need Planning Permission for a New Front Door

If you’re asking if you need planning permission to move your front door, the answer is usually yes, you do.

Blocking off an original door opening and creating a new one elsewhere represents a substantial and noticeable change to your property’s appearance. That’s the scenario in which you do typically need planning permission.

In the same way, if you’re planning to significantly change the size of the opening at the front of your house, for example to add double doors rather than a standard front door, that will likely need planning permission, too.

Other Front Door Planning Permission Considerations

That should give you a decent idea of when you do and don’t usually need planning permission for replacing or moving a front door. There are a few other things you should also be aware of, however:

• Listed buildings or conservation areas – If your home is, or is in, a listed building, the usual Permitted Development Rights don’t necessarily apply. You will often need to seek permission for works that wouldn’t usually require it. The same goes for if your home is within a conservation area or area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).
• Article 4 Direction – Local councils can also apply an Article 4 Direction to certain buildings or areas. This withdraws the usual Permitted Development Rights and means a wider range of works require planning permission before they can go ahead.
• Flats and maisonettes – Permitted Development Rights don’t usually apply to flats and maisonettes. If you live in one of those types of properties, you will more often than not have to get planning permission for any external alterations.

Building Regulations: Different but as Important as Planning Permission for Your New Front Door

Planning permission is only one of the things you have to consider when looking to move your front door. You should also think about relevant building regulations and how to ensure your project complies with those.

Under UK building regulations, a front door is considered to be a “controlled fitting”. That means there are specific standards that any new front door must meet. These fall into five broad categories:

• Thermal heat loss – In order to protect a property’s energy efficiency, there are regulations around the heat loss any external door can allow through its glazing or frame.
• Safety glazing – Depending on the location of the door and of any glazing within it, the glass may have to be safety glass.
• Ventilation – Front doors may also be required to provide a certain amount of ventilation to the room within. That will depend on the size and use of that room.
• Fire safety – In some cases, external doors may need to have a degree of fire resistance built in. Most often that means they’ll need to be self-closing, rather than being fire doors, as is needed for some internal doors.
• Accessibility – If you’re replacing or moving the main entrance of a residential dwelling constructed since 1999, you also must consider accessibility. Any threshold has to remain level and your work cannot make the property less accessible for those with disabilities.

So, Do I Need Planning Permission to Move My Front Door?

Long story short, if you’re moving your front door, you will almost certainly need planning permission. If you’re simply replacing it with a new door of the same size, in the same opening, you probably won’t. Unless you live in a listed building, conservation area, or location where your council has applied an Article 4 Direction.

In all circumstances, any works to your property will have to adhere to UK building regulations. That’s why it pays to trust professionals whose work is FENSA certified, as that’s the proof that your home improvements meet all the necessary standards.

Looking for a New Front Door?

Now you know whether you need front door planning permission or not, why not get in touch with Door Warehouse for expert advice or pop to our Deeside showroom to browse our full range of external doors?