The planning rules for porches are applicable to any external door to your property.
Adding a porch to any external door of your house is considered to be permitted development, not requiring an application for planning permission, provided:
- The ground floor area (measured externally) would not exceed three square metres
- No part would be more than three metres above ground level (height needs to be measured in the same way as for a house extension)
- No part of the porch would be within two metres of any boundary of your property and the highway.
Please note: the permitted development allowances described here apply to houses not flats, maisonettes or other buildings. View guidance on flats and maisonettes here.
Removal of permitted development rights
You need to be aware of whether the permitted development rights have been removed from your property by the Local Planning Authority. If they have been removed, you must submit a planning application for the work.
The Local Planning Authority may have removed some of your permitted development rights as a condition of the original planning permission for your property. This information will be available on the planning register held by the Local Planning Authority. Permitted development rights may also have been removed by an 'Article 4' direction. These are most common in conservation areas where the character of an area could be threatened by unmanaged development. Your solicitor should have informed you of whether an article 4 direction exists when you purchased your property, but you can check with the Local Planning Authority if you are not sure.
Householder guide
The Welsh Government has produced a technical guide, and a householder guide, available here, to help you understand how permitted development rules might apply to your circumstances.