Demolishing a Chimney? Do I need any permission?

[sitefive]

Well our chimney was in pretty bad state for some time, few days ago a few huge roof tiles flew off in the huge winds, while they were fixed the guys told me that the chimney is just an accident waiting to happen as well and in much worse state than I had originally thought, so finally a time to act. That chimney holds no purpose whatsoever anymore and the plan is to replace the chimney opening in the roof with a velux style window so later on when we got enough budget to do loft conversion as well there would be 1 less window to worry about .

Was wondering do I need some kind of planing permission or anything at all for this kind of stuff?If so where do I start? to get the chimney taken down and replaced with a window. The possible new window would not be faced against any road, nor it will overlook any other nearby houses windows,just a velux looking in the sky.
Thanks.

 

[clk230]

from the little I know , it will depend if your in a conservation area , listed building etc . As for removing a chimney its probably more a building control matter rather than planning permission .

 

[bugbear]

"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission"

BugBear

 

[sitefive]

Yup for sure
I had a thought of just having a go at it,but since it would involve large scaffolding people would notice the process ,and I have few neighbours that like to report people for just about anything :twisted:

 

[zb1]

Yes as it alters the "road frontage". You'll also need to inform Building Control to ensure that the work meets the required standards.

 

[Roxie]

Yes, from Father Christmas!!! :lol:

 

[kinsella]

from the little I know , it will depend if your in a conservation area , listed building etc . As for removing a chimney its probably more a building control matter rather than planning permission .

You will need planning permission as it will alter the visual appearance of your property, thus its a planning permission application.

 

[Woodchips2]

Official planning guidance at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permis ... ects/roof/ seems to indicate you don't need permission.

Regards Keith

 

[kinsella]

Official planning guidance at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permis ... ects/roof/ seems to indicate you don't need permission.

Regards Keith

Keith, which bit in the link are you referring to? The section on Planning Permission refers to re-roofing in regards to repairs. Not removal of features, ie a chimney?

 

[Craigus]

People call us and ask this kind of thing all the time. Every single time if there is no clear answer on the planning portal the answer is ring the council and ask them. They will likely ask for your address and let you know.

If you do you just need someone to draw up the existing and proposed plans and elevations for you, you should be able to find someone who can do that locally for not much money, when I was self-employed I would have charged about £400 for this not including local authority fees.

 

[MIGNAL]

Planning might need notifying. I'd be tempted to notify someone to make it safe first though.

 

[paulrockliffe]

£400 + fees is a lot of money for drawing what's already there and rubbing out the chimney! You could get a good enough drawing in five minutes with a camera, a tape measure and a bit of photoshop to pull out the outlines and to then delete the chimney.

I wouldn't bother with the velux, it'll be cheaper and easier to tile over and the chances are that any future loft conversion will involve the roof coming off, which'll then cost more as there's a window to remove. You might hit a BC issue with the velux anyway as you might not get a FENSA cert for the install into an uninsulated roof (?)

 

[Woodchips2]

Official planning guidance at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permis ... ects/roof/ seems to indicate you don't need permission.

Regards Keith

Keith, which bit in the link are you referring to? The section on Planning Permission refers to re-roofing in regards to repairs. Not removal of features, ie a chimney?

That section related to the fitting of a Velux window. However http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permis ... schimneys/ indicates permitted development covers alterations to chimney stacks. There are provisos eg conservation areas, but generally the government does not want local authorities getting involved in small scale work however much they would like to.

When I first started work I was told by my employer 'Never volunteer information' and in the case of planning officers never ask them if you needed permission because they would always say 'yes' (hammer)

Regards Keith

 

[blackrodd]

That section related to the fitting of a Velux window. However http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permis ... schimneys/ indicates permitted development covers alterations to chimney stacks. There are provisos eg conservation areas, but generally the government does not want local authorities getting involved in small scale work however much they would like to.

When I first started work I was told by my employer 'Never volunteer information' and in the case of planning officers never ask them if you needed permission because they would always say 'yes' (hammer)

Regards Keith[/quote]

+ 1 for the above, is this a Devon thing? Any planning query is always a NO then long and drawn out dialogue.
There is a solicitor here in Sunny Devon, whom is also a planning expert, and you would not believe the behaviour of some of the public servants hereabouts, he is ALWAYS busy!
Rodders

 

[Jonzjob]

When we live on the edge of Stroud there was a small council housing estate built down the bottom of Butterow Hill. They were built without any chimneys. Some jobs worth from the council came and complained that there were supposed to be chimneys on them as per the plans. They finished up fitting fibre glass totally non working chimneys!!!

I'm not too sure who were the biggest idiots. The builders who 'forgot' to build the chimneys or the council who insisted on the fibreglass jobbies? They were quite happy wiith them like that!, kin-idiots!

 

[Craigus]

£400 + fees is a lot of money for drawing what's already there and rubbing out the chimney! You could get a good enough drawing in five minutes with a camera, a tape measure and a bit of photoshop to pull out the outlines and to then delete the chimney.

"You spent how much on that solid oak dining table? I can get one from Ikea for £50!"

 

[sitefive]

£400 + fees is a lot of money for drawing what's already there and rubbing out the chimney! You could get a good enough drawing in five minutes with a camera, a tape measure and a bit of photoshop to pull out the outlines and to then delete the chimney.

"You spent how much on that solid oak dining table? I can get one from Ikea for £50!"

Any way you look at it , it's insane amounts of £ for almost nothing!

 

[Woodchips2]

If you go ahead without approaching Planning sitefive I would gather together the advice from the planning portal or elsewhere, print it off and store it where you can find it. Then at a later stage if anybody queries the lack of permission you have the evidence to hand :lol:

One potential disadvantage of demolishing the chimney rather than rebuilding could be if a future purchaser of the property wanted a woodburner or similar appliance installed.

Regards Keith

 

[sitefive]

hardly a disadvantage , but yeah the thing is I Don't want to go asking because If I will ask they will most probably say yes- you need to give us money and that's totally a thing you need even though I might not need it at all...And if I give them my address they will probably visit to see what I'm doing...

 

[bugbear]

.And if I give them my address they will probably visit to see what I'm doing...

Your project sounds increasingly dodgy! :wink:

BugBear