Planning issues - post them here MOD WARNING post #1

Could anyone confirm if there would be any kind of planning restrictions on changing the appearance of the front elevation of a house i.e. wall paint colour, over painting feature cladding or removing said cladding, removing window boxes, installing door canopies, removing hedging to build block walls or steel railings?

Some context, I live in a large estate some 12 years where there are 3, 4 & 5 bed terraced and semi homes and apartment buildings. The houses all had the same look, walls finished in cream paint colour, a beech coloured cladding to one side of the front wall & a window box above the front entrance door. All houses were uniform in appearance originally, only difference was front door colour changed in sequence red/black/green/blue. Over the past few years people in the estate seem to be in competition to see who's house can stand out most, changing to wall colours to all kinds of greens, greys, blues. Some have completely removed the cladding, plastered the wall behind and painted, others over painted the cladding a different colour. Window boxes have been removed and door canopies installed in that space .. the uniform look of the houses has been lost to the detriment of the estate I believe. Another thing that seems to be everywhere are large bin or bike storage units, some DIY wooden contraptions others steel or plastic yokes. Are these even allowed in front gardens?

So my question, what if any restrictions or permission requirements would there be to altering the appearance of a house from the original approved design? I'm guessing a lot of the residents in my estate think they can just do as they please!!

If you aren't happy with what the neighbours are doing and believe they are in breach of planning regulations then report the matter to the enforcement section of your local planning department.