Insulating your home

Free planning advice is available for residents if you are considering insulating your home or other energy efficiency measures via our Duty Planning Service

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Diagram showing cross-section of a brick wall with "inner wall", "insulation" and "outer wall" annotated.

Insulation is a great way to make your home more energy efficient. This will help you save money on energy bills, make your home more comfortable to live in and reduce carbon emissions.

Insulation can be split into three categories.

1. Internal insulation to existing premises

This does not require planning permission unless your property is a listed building.

2. Rebuilding to achieve high thermal efficiency

Planning permission is required if you are considering demolishing and rebuilding walls.

Planning permission is unlikely to be accepted for demolishing and rebuilding if:

  • your home is a listed building
  • your home is in a conservation area.

Planning applications for re-building must demonstrate how the character and appearance of surrounding properties and the wider area will be maintained.

3. External cladding

External cladding must be of the same visual appearance as the existing materials used in the external construction. If it is not, planning permission will be required.

For external cladding, we recommend applying for pre-application advice.

Planning permission

Planning permission will be required if:

  • your home is a listed building
  • your home is in a conservation area and you plan to clad the outside of your house with stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastic or tiles
  • your property is affected by an Article 4 Direction (depending on the location of the cladding).

Whether or not you need planning permission, you may still need building regulations consent. For more information contact building control on 020 8753 2448.

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