Gutters are about the lowest-stakes roofing job there is. They carry rainwater from the roof edge to the downpipes, and when they leak or sag they are replaced, usually in a day or two. For an ordinary house nobody applies to the council for that, and nobody needs to. But "ordinary" is not "all", and the exceptions are the ones that cause trouble: a flat, a listed building, a house in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction. In those cases a gutter job can need consent, and finding out afterwards is awkward.
This is the consent post in our gutters cluster. It explains why a like-for-like replacement on a house sits outside planning control, what changes for flats and listed buildings, and what Basingstoke and Deane's directions say about gutters in four of its conservation areas. It also names who to ask in Rushmoor and Hart, and in the councils around them.
The other questions in the cluster have posts of their own: access in whether you need scaffolding to replace guttering, and the cost of fascias in how much uPVC fascias and soffits cost. The gutters, soffits and fascias page covers our work. What follows is guidance, not legal advice.
Why a like-for-like swap sits outside planning
Planning control applies to development, and the Act's definition of development leaves out a good deal of routine maintenance.
The starting rule
Under section 55(2)(a) of the 1990 Act, development does not include works whose effect on a building's external appearance is not material. Fitting new gutters of the same kind, in the same place, as the old ones changes nothing that a passer-by would notice, so no application arises.
What like for like means
The same profile or very close to it, the same colour family, the same material and the same position. Black half-round for black half-round qualifies. Cast iron swapped for plastic on a street of cast iron may change the look, which is a question for the council. Moving the gutter, or fitting a deeper fascia with it, is a bigger change again.
Where permitted development fits
Dwellinghouses enjoy permitted development rights under the General Permitted Development Order 2015, and Class C covers alterations to a roof. A straight gutter replacement seldom has to lean on any of that, since it is not development to begin with.
What the rule leaves out
Flats, listed buildings and land where a direction has removed rights fall outside the comfortable position described above. The next sections take them in turn.
If in doubt, put the address to the council's planning team before work starts, and keep the answer.
Flats and converted buildings
A flat is treated differently from a house, and it catches out owners because the rules sound alike.
No permitted development
A dwellinghouse, in the Order's wording, is not a building of flats, and not a single flat within one. Rushmoor spells out what follows: a flat has no permitted development rights, so the only gutter work that can go ahead without an application is a like-for-like replacement, or other work that leaves the look of the building alone.
Like for like still helps
The second half of that rule matters. A faithful gutter replacement on a flat leaves the appearance unchanged, so it is not development, for the same reason as on a house. A different material, a different style or relocated downpipes is where permission comes in.
Who owns the gutters
In a block, the gutters often belong to a landlord or a management company, and the leaseholder or tenant may not be the person who commissions work. Read the lease and ask the managing agent. Our post on who is responsible for the roof on a commercial property explains how leases divide duties, and the same thinking applies to residential blocks.
A house split into flats
A house that has been converted into flats counts as a building containing flats, so the dwellinghouse rights are not available for it, whatever it looks like from the road.
Planning permission is therefore a live question for any non-identical gutter change on such a building, and it is cheaper to ask first than to reverse a finished job. Photographs of the existing gutters, brackets and downpipes help the council see exactly what is there and what is proposed, so take them from the ground before you write.
Listed buildings and their gutters
A listed building sits under its own regime, and the gutters are part of the building.
Listed building consent
Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 calls for consent before works that would affect a listed building's character as a place of special architectural or historic interest. A listed house retains the permitted development rights that dwellinghouses have, yet it needs that consent as a further step wherever its character is touched.
Why gutters count
On an old building the gutters, brackets, downpipes and hoppers are part of the fabric and part of its look, and old gutters are often fixed in ways that mark the wall if they are removed, which is one more reason to plan the work carefully. Half-round cast iron on a period house is a feature, and replacing it with another material or profile can change character even though the job looks routine.
Repair against replacement
A repair in matching materials is least likely to need consent, and re-fixing a sagging run, clearing a hopper or renewing a few brackets is a very different job from fitting a new system, though where the line falls is for the council's conservation officer to say, not the owner. A different material is likely to need it.
Churches
A Church of England church in current use is dealt with through the faculty system. Roman Catholic, Methodist and some other denominations run their own arrangements, and closed churches need listed building consent.
Ask before ordering materials, because a roofer cannot cure a consent problem once the gutters are up.
Article 4 areas, with Basingstoke as the example
A conservation area does not stop ordinary maintenance, but it adds a layer, and an Article 4 direction can take away rights that would otherwise exist.
What a direction does
It withdraws chosen permitted development rights over a defined area. Inside it, work that would usually need no application has to be applied for. The council publishes each direction with a map, and the wording says exactly which works are caught, so it is worth reading the wording and not relying on a summary.
Basingstoke and Deane
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has made directions for four of its conservation areas, which are Brookvale West, Fairfields, South View and the town centre of Basingstoke. Its guidance names replacing fascias, soffits or guttering among the works that now need planning permission there, alongside solar panels on a roof and roof changes. The same guidance asks for original slate and clay on roofs to be retained. A house in one of those four areas should check with the council before any change to gutters, fascias or soffits.
Rushmoor and Hart
Rushmoor's directions cover chimneys and flues at Cargate, front garden parking at Church Circle, aerials and front walls at Wellesley, plus the change of use of shops and employment land. None mentions gutters. Hart's 1998 directions for most of its conservation areas deal with frontage roof slopes and chimneys. Neither council has a gutter rule, but both are reasons to ask about your address.
Everywhere else
Where no gutter direction is known, the right move is a question. Ask the planning team whether an Article 4 direction applies, and give the exact address. Do not rely on a neighbour's experience, because directions follow boundaries on a map, and the house next door may be on the other side of the line.
Who to ask, and what to say
The council's planning team is the right place, and a short, clear enquiry gets a short, clear answer.
Farnborough and Aldershot
Rushmoor Borough Council handles planning for Farnborough, Aldershot and North Camp. Its planning pages explain permitted development and its conservation areas, and its team can say whether any direction affects your address.
Fleet and the Hart villages
Hart District Council handles planning for its own area, and its pages list the conservation areas and the 1998 directions. The team can tell you whether yours applies.
Other councils
Write to the council that covers the address, for example Surrey Heath, Waverley, Guildford, Basingstoke and Deane, Bracknell Forest or Wokingham, and name the property.
What to include
- The full address, stating house or flat.
- Whether the building is listed or in a conservation area.
- What the present gutters, fascias and soffits are made of.
- What you plan to fit, in the same terms.
Keep the reply
Councils are used to short enquiries about routine work, and a clear question costs them little. Ask for the answer in writing, or follow a phone call with an email that sums up what you were told, and file it with your house papers. A roofer will want to see it before pricing.
Our guide to fascia capping versus replacement shows how capping differs from replacing, which can colour a council's view of the appearance.
Other consents around a gutter job
Planning is one question among several, and the others are quick once you know them.
Scaffold licence
If scaffold will stand on a public pavement or road, the highway authority licenses it under Highways Act s169. For Rushmoor and Hart addresses the authority is Hampshire County Council, and the scaffold firm is the applicant for its customers. A scaffold that never leaves private land is not licensed at all. The scaffolding post linked above covers timings.
Asbestos check
On a house that dates from before 2000, HSE's advice is to presume asbestos in the soffits until a test says otherwise, since asbestos insulating board turns up in external soffits. Identify before you disturb, as our post on asbestos in soffits for Farnborough homeowners explains.
Falls and drainage
A gutter runs to a small fall towards its outlet. Brett Martin gives 1 mm for every 600 mm of run, and BS EN 12056-3 is the current drainage standard, so a new run should be set to the right fall.
Shared structures
If the gutter or fascia sits on a shared wall or party structure, check the position with the neighbour before work starts.
One price
Once the consent position is known, a survey gives the measurements, and one written total follows. Where the old gutters can be repaired instead, a repair is the job that gets priced.
