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Q&As
Do I need planning permission to reinstate a stud wall?
We're in the process of buying a two bed semi-detached property that was previously a three bed home. A stud wall was removed by the original owners, but the same window, sockets and radiator in the room are still there. We'd like to reinstate the stud wall to create an additional bedroom. Do I need to planning permission or to inform my local authority in order to do this?
One Answer
Hi Carol,
Thanks so much for getting in touch with your question. As so often with planning, the answer is, probably not, but maybe. You do not usually need planning permission for internal alterations to a building. They are excluded from the definition of development in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and it is development that requires permission.
If your building is listed, however, you may need Listed Building Consent for the works. A statutory listing covers all of a building, inside and out, unless parts of it are specifically excluded in the listing description.
It’s also possible that the council imposed a planning condition when it first granted permission for your property to control the internal layout of the house. For example, there are sometimes conditions requiring that you do not convert a garage, or that you do not use basement rooms as living accommodation (if the council decided they would be too dark). It seems very unlikely, though, that there would be a condition stopping you from putting up a stud wall. You can ask the council for the original decision notice for your house to see what conditions apply.
Outside of planning, building works sometimes require approval from the council’s building control department. However, you do not normally need Building Regulations approval for the construction of a non-load-bearing stud partition.
Best of luck with your project plans,
Martin Gaine (Build It’s Planning expert)