Retrospective Planning Permission: Why 'Build First, Ask Later' Doesn't Work
There's a particular kind of confidence behind building before permission arrives, and a particular kind of silence that follows when it doesn't come. A case making headlines in Jersey this month shows exactly how that gamble tends to resolve. Here's what retrospective planning permission can actually do for you, and where it quietly runs out.
Why Getting Permission to Retrofit a Listed Building Still Takes So Long
Nine out of ten applications to retrofit a listed home are approved in the end — so why does the answer take months to arrive? We look at the quiet strain inside the planning system behind every slow "yes," and the national reform now being proposed to close the gap between approval and action.
Do You Still Need Biodiversity Net Gain for Your Self-Build? Why Plot Size Now Decides
For years, building your own home carried a quiet exemption from biodiversity rules, simply by virtue of being a self-builder. That exemption has just been removed, replaced with something stricter: a line drawn at 0.2 hectares. Here's what the change actually means for your plot, and why the answer now turns on land, not intent.
Can AI Design Your Extension? What AI House-Plan Generators Get Right — and What They Miss
Type a sentence, get a floor plan. It's genuinely useful — right up to the point it matters most. Here's our honest look at what AI house-plan generators do well, and what they quietly leave out of a once-in-a-lifetime extension.
“Broken-Plan” Living: Why Open-Plan Extensions Are Being Quietly Rethought
The open-plan box has had its decade. What today's best extensions offer instead is quieter: rooms that still flow, but know how to close a door.
The Hidden Cost of Extending in 2026/2027: What’s Happening to Planning Application Fees
Another rise in planning fees is on the table for December — though nothing is settled yet. Here's what's actually known, and why the fee itself was never really the point.
Paragraph 84: Building an Exceptional Home in the Countryside
There is a clause in national planning policy that rewards exactly one thing: a building genuinely worth having changed the view. Here is what it actually asks of a design, and of the people making it.
Jersey Planning Reform 2026: What's Changing Under Boleat
Jersey's planning process is genuinely getting easier under its new Minister. Whether your project's ecology is safer is a separate question — one a Jersey ecologist has just raised publicly, and worth understanding before you start.
The Mansion Tax Is Coming: What a £2m+ Threshold Means If You're Building or Extending
A new charge on £2 million homes arrives in 2028. Before it shapes a single decision about your extension or new build, here's what's actually known — calmly, and without the scaremongering.
What New-Build Snagging Data Really Shows in 2026
Two statistics, both true, both from the same industry survey, that seem to contradict each other. They don't — but understanding why tells you almost everything worth knowing before you complete on a new-build home.
Biophilic Design: Why Nature-Led Homes Aren't Just a Trend
Every design movement eventually gets a marketing name. This one has fifty years of research behind it, and roughly five years of people using it to sell houseplants. Here's how to tell the difference.
Building or Extending in Jersey vs the UK Mainland: Key Differences
Jersey looks close enough to the mainland that people assume the rules travel with the ferry. They don't. Here's what's genuinely different about building or extending a home on the island.
What Is "Grey Belt" in Planning — and Where Does It Apply?
Not all Green Belt is equal, and national policy now says so in writing. Here's what "grey belt" really means, where it shows up locally, and why a plot's postcode alone won't tell you if it qualifies.
Is There Really a Self-Build "Fast-Track" in the New NPPF?
A new clause in national planning policy is being talked about as a hidden door for self-builders. We went and read it. The real story is more useful than the myth, just less exciting.
NPPF August 2026: What the new planning rules mean for you
Somewhere between a government press release and a 130-page document, most homeowners lost the thread. Here's the version written for the people actually living through it.
Peak District Local Plan 2026: Consultation Open Now — What to Know
The document that will shape what can be built across the Peak District for the next decade is open for comment right now. Here's what it is, in plain English, and why it's worth ten minutes of your time.
Are Permitted Development Rules Changing in 2026? What's Actually True
Search "permitted development 2026" and you'll find a dozen confident articles about rules that haven't actually changed. We sorted out what's true, what's proposed, and what's already different if you live in the Peak District.
Does Passivhaus Really Cost More? What New 2026 Research Actually Shows
Everyone assumes Passivhaus costs a fortune more to build. New research says otherwise — and the real figure is small enough to make the question worth asking again.
Future Homes Standard Explained: What It Means for Your New Build
A new law now governs how every new home in England must perform — not in some distant future, but from March 2027. We look at what it actually requires, and why the homes worth building were already heading this way.
Building in Jersey: A Mainland Practice’s Guide to Island Planning
Jersey Architecture: A mainland practice's honest guide to its planning system, its property market, and what building well on an island actually asks of you.