Planning permission for two-storey extensions in Gwent

Gwent at a glance

Nation: Wales
Price region: Wales
Postcode areas: CF, NP
Towns covered: 27 listed below, plus surrounding villages
Site visits: Free, no obligation

What a planning application involves

This service suits you if you want your two-storey extension to go through planning with the best chance of approval. You get a check of your house's planning history, permitted development rights and local design guidance, a design shaped around them, the application prepared and submitted, and someone to deal with the planning officer's questions. We cannot promise an outcome, but we design to give the application a fair chance.

The main places we list in Gwent are Newport (Gwent) (NP10), Cwmbran (NP44), Pontypool (NP4), Ebbw Vale (NP23), Caerphilly (CF83) and Risca (NP11). We cover the villages in between too.

Fees

Planning drawings are a guide of £2,000–£3,500, priced in writing before the design stage starts. Householder planning application: £585.

Rules in Wales

In Wales, a householder planning application costs £585, and decisions are normally made within 8 weeks. Wales allows more under permitted development than England, including some two-storey side extensions, so we check the Welsh tests first. Applications go to the local planning authority, and some councils offer pre-application advice.

Approval in Wales: Householder planning application: £585. Councils normally decide householder applications within 8 weeks.

Building regulations: Building regulations approval under the Welsh Approved Documents, which differ from England's in places (notably energy efficiency).

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies in Wales, so notices may be needed for work on or near a shared wall or boundary.

Getting the design right

Check the history first

Planning conditions from when the house was built, earlier extensions and Article 4 directions can all remove permitted development rights. We check the council's records and your house's history before design starts, so the route is clear.

Neighbours' light and privacy

The main concerns on a two-storey extension are usually loss of light, outlook and privacy for neighbours. We test the design against nearby windows and gardens, and adjust depth, roof shape or window positions before submitting.

How we work in Gwent

Free site visit
We visit your home in Gwent, look at the structure, access and boundaries, and talk through what you want the new rooms to do.
Get it approved
Once you're happy with the design we submit it to the council for Gwent and deal with any questions from the planning officer.
Structure and building control
A structural engineer sizes the foundations and steels, and we get building regulations approval before work starts.
Finish and certify
Second fix, plastering and making good, then building control's final inspection and the completion paperwork.

Towns we cover in Gwent