Velux permission
Do you need permission to install a Velux window?
The short answer
On an ordinary house you often do not need planning permission to fit a Velux roof window, but you may still need Building Regulations approval. Planning rules are tighter for flats, listed buildings, side slopes and areas with special controls. If you rent or own a leasehold, your landlord may also have to agree. Ask your planning team at the council before any work begins.
Three different kinds of permission can apply to a roof window, and each has its own test. Here is how to work out which ones are yours.
Planning permission and the roof of a house
Putting a roof window into a house counts as changing its roof. The General Permitted Development Order deals with it under Class C, so no application is needed while the work stays inside the limits. The unit may not protrude more than 0.15 metres past the original slope's surface, and its top may not climb past the highest part of the roof as first built.
Roof windows are normally made to lie flat in the covering, so those limits tend to be met. A thick frame or a built-up flashing deserves a look at the manufacturer's data sheet, and a unit on a kerb stands out further still. Permitted development falls away if a local direction has removed the right, and a listed house needs listed building consent too. A like-for-like replacement can sit outside planning altogether, because a change that leaves the external appearance largely unaltered is not classed as development. Our guide to planning permission for a skylight takes the checks in order.
Where the answer changes: flats, side slopes and listed homes
The right in Class C belongs to a dwellinghouse, a term the Order defines so as to exclude a block containing flats as well as any single flat inside it. Someone living in a flat should put the question to the council instead of assuming a roof window is allowed.
A window in a side slope brings a condition of its own. The glass must be obscure in every case, and the window may open only if the part that opens is higher than 1.7 metres from the floor inside; otherwise it is fixed. Anyone wanting clear glass there must apply for planning permission. Listed buildings need consent even where permitted development applies, and listed building consent turns on whether the change would affect the character of the building. Old town centres and villages around Bognor, Chichester and Arundel hold plenty of listed houses, so it is worth checking the listing before choosing a position. Our answer on side-facing roof windows and obscure glass covers the glazing rule on its own, and a quick look at the register costs nothing.
Conservation areas, the Downs and the harbour
A common belief is that a conservation area rules out roof windows. It does not, because Class C carries no exclusion for conservation areas, National Parks or National Landscapes. The thing that can take the right away is a local Article 4 direction, which withdraws named rights across a defined area. Havant's direction for Langstone is an example: it reaches roof alterations on a house that fronts the highway, and roof light windows are the instance it gives.
The Article 4 directions Arun holds for Bognor and Aldwick concern other matters and remove no roof rights. What Chichester's directions cover is for that council to explain, so ask it directly. Inside the South Downs National Park, the Authority itself takes planning applications from the Arun, Horsham, Adur and Worthing sides, while the Chichester and East Hampshire sides go through the district council. Chichester Harbour is now styled a National Landscape, after the 2023 rename of what had been an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Whoever covers your address, confirm with them before a unit is ordered.
Building Regulations: the permission people forget
Planning looks at appearance and neighbours. The Building Regulations look at whether the work is safe and efficient, and they apply on top. Cutting a new opening alters the roof structure, which the Planning Portal names as a reason to seek building control approval. Any new or replacement roof window must reach the heat-loss figure in Approved Document L: 1.4 W/m²K, or at least Band B if the window carries an energy label.
For sign-off you can use the council's building control team or a registered building control approver, and both apply the same rules. An approver is a private firm on the official register, which has operated since April 2024. Which approvals your job needs is something we explain up front, and notifiable work is notified by us. Our guide to roof windows and the Building Regulations lists what the inspector looks at. File the completion certificate with your house papers. A buyer's solicitor tends to want it, and a gap in the papers can slow a sale.
Leases, neighbours and a sensible order of work
Two further questions sit outside the statutory systems. If you own a leasehold flat or rent your home, your lease or tenancy decides whether you may alter the roof, and the freeholder or landlord usually has to agree in writing. Read the lease before anything else and ask early, because in most blocks the roof belongs to the freeholder and a window cuts straight through it.
If the opening lies near a chimney breast or a party wall, that needs a closer look, since removing a breast on a party wall needs a party wall notice. Neighbours are not asked to approve a roof window, although the council may consult them if you do apply. A sensible order is to check planning, then confirm the lease, then book the survey. Our survey takes photographs of the roof, a written quote follows, which gives you something to show the council or the freeholder. The rest of what we fit and repair is on our skylights and roof windows.
Related questions
Velux permission questions
Can I swap an old Velux for a new one without asking anyone?
A like-for-like swap often falls outside planning, but the replacement still has to reach the Part L heat-loss limit, and building control may want to be told. Leaseholders and tenants should still read their agreement. A listed building needs its own check before any change to the glazing.
Who can tell me if my own roof needs permission?
The planning team at your council can answer, and so can the Park's own planning officers if the house lies within the Downs. Send photographs of the roof and the position of the window. For structure and heat loss, ask the building control body. Hold on to any written reply, because it may be asked for years from now.