45 degree rule - right to light

cbg

Hi there,
I hope some cane help me understand how much the planning offices adhere to this rule.

We would like to do a double extension to the rear of a west facing semi detached property and were advised at the pre planning meeting with the local county council that our planning applicaiton would be denied if we did not ahere to the the 45 degree rule. this rule apparently stipluated that we are to draw a 45 degree line from the middle of our neighbours nearest window to the proposed extension, in the direction of the proposed extension and the point at which they intercept is the furthest out we could extend. in our case it looks to be 7ft. This would be too short an extension to suit our needs and so if we are to be tied to this rule we could not extend.

I have noticed many 2 story semi detached extensions in the area, where their neighbours windows seem to be similarily located in terms of the neighbours extension (as ours would be) and they have obviously got permission for an extension in excess of 7ft (the extensions look to be around 12 - 15 ft long). I should also say that our house and the ones I am comparing it to are all built around 30 years ago.

Am I misunderstanding the rule or if not, how stringent is it? Are there any ways that we can get around this ruleing

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

sydthebeat

cbg wrote: »

Hi there,
I hope some cane help me understand how much the planning offices adhere to this rule.

We would like to do a double extension to the rear of a west facing semi detached property and were advised at the pre planning meeting with the local county council that our planning applicaiton would be denied if we did not ahere to the the 45 degree rule. this rule apparently stipluated that we are to draw a 45 degree line from the middle of our neighbours nearest window to the proposed extension, in the direction of the proposed extension and the point at which they intercept is the furthest out we could extend. in our case it looks to be 7ft. This would be too short an extension to suit our needs and so if we are to be tied to this rule we could not extend.

I have noticed many 2 story semi detached extensions in the area, where their neighbours windows seem to be similarily located in terms of the neighbours extension (as ours would be) and they have obviously got permission for an extension in excess of 7ft (the extensions look to be around 12 - 15 ft long). I should also say that our house and the ones I am comparing it to are all built around 30 years ago.

Am I misunderstanding the rule or if not, how stringent is it? Are there any ways that we can get around this ruleing

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

the other extension may have been done without planning....

if not, and planning was applied for.. then go into your local authority and look at the planning files of these extension and see what they did, and if there was any issues...

but also remember, you have a neighbour directly south... these other extensions may not have had...

cbg

Thank you very much for those pointers sydthebeat, I'll check out the planning office. We do have neighbours behind us but we are around 50 meters away from their house so I understand we are ok from that perspective.

CBG

sydthebeat

cbg wrote: »

Thank you very much for those pointers sydthebeat, I'll check out the planning office. We do have neighbours behind us but we are around 50 meters away from their house so I understand we are ok from that perspective.

CBG

its the dwelling to the left hand side of yours thats the subject dwelling. This dwelling is directly north of yours.... so if you build a two-storey extension you will take a lot of their direct southerly sunshine....

cbg

Again syethebeat thank you for that extra information