Considering Planning Permission for Your Biomass System?

When you install a biomass system inside your house, you usually won't need planning permission from your local council. But if your system needs an external flue, which is essentially an outside chimney, you might be able to build it without a formal application. This is thanks to something called 'permitted development rights', but you must meet certain specific criteria.

Specific Rules for External Chimneys

• If you are adding a flue to the back or side of your home, it cannot stick out more than one metre higher than the very top part of your roof.

• Should your property be a Listed Building, or if you live within a Designated Area – like an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or a National Park – you should always speak with your local planning authority before attaching an external flue. This advice stands even if you think your project falls under permitted development. Remember, making changes inside your home in these special areas might also require their approval.

• If your home is in a Conservation Area or a World Heritage Site, you must not put a flue on the main front side or the side of your house if people could see it from any public road.

Perhaps your project involves building a separate structure outside your main home to store fuel or other equipment. In that situation, the planning regulations for this new building are exactly the same as those that apply to any other extensions or garden outbuildings you might consider.