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.
“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.
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.
House Extension Costs in Derbyshire 2026: A Realistic Guide
The question every client asks first, answered properly: what a high-end extension really costs in Derbyshire in 2026 — by specification, by type, and by everything the headline figure leaves out.