Some permitted development changes have become law; other widely reported changes remain proposals in the sources checked. This register separates them by subject and effective date. It covers selected changes relevant to homeowners and smaller development in England, checked on 8 September 2026. It is not a complete history of every amendment to the General Permitted Development Order.
For the basic eligibility checks, use our permitted development guide. A national amendment does not remove the need to check the relevant class, property history, planning conditions and any Article 4 direction.
Read the status before the headline
A consultation asks for views. A government response can announce an intention. A made statutory instrument supplies legal text, but its commencement provision determines when the change starts. Transitional provisions can preserve an older route for specific cases without keeping that route open to new applications indefinitely.
For any claimed reform, keep the exact subject, amending instrument, operative date and affected GPDO provision together. “Planning rules relaxed” is too broad to establish whether your extension or conversion qualifies.
Current register
| Strand | Verified position at the source-check date | Main source |
|---|---|---|
| Proposed deeper ordinary house extensions and wider householder freedoms | The February 2024 consultation proposed changes; the current Part 1 text checked does not establish the proposed 5m/4m ordinary rear-extension limits as operative | 2024 consultation, current Part 1 |
| Class MA commercial-to-residential changes | Effective 5 March 2024: specified vacancy requirement and floorspace upper limit removed | SI 2024/141 |
| Class Q agricultural conversion changes | Effective 21 May 2024; particular earlier-route application window ended 20 May 2025 | SI 2024/579 |
| Domestic air source heat pumps | Effective 29 May 2025; separate standards-related transitional allowance ended 28 May 2026 | SI 2025/560 |
| EV charging outlets, upstands and associated equipment | Specified changes effective 29 May 2025 | SI 2025/560, articles 3–4 |
| Reverse vending machines at shops and other GPDO amendments | Effective 9 April 2026 | SI 2026/313 |
| Small-scale non-domestic onshore wind | March 2026 consultation is a proposal source; no operative new right established by that consultation | Official consultation |
| Schools, assets of community value, defence and conservation measures | June 2026 consultation proposals; do not treat consultation text as permission | Official consultation |
“Proposal” here describes the evidence verified for the strand. It does not predict a decision or promise an implementation date. Before a project relies on a newly announced right, check for subsequent made legislation and its commencement.
Have the ordinary rear-extension limits increased?
The February 2024 consultation proposed increasing the smaller single-storey rear-extension depths from four to five metres for detached houses and from three to four metres for other houses. Those proposed numbers should not be copied into a current eligibility checker merely because the consultation has closed.
The revised Class A text checked for this register retains the ordinary 4m detached / 3m other-house thresholds, alongside the separate larger-extension route, its restrictions and procedure. Size is only one test. See our rear-extension guide for the distinction between ordinary permitted development, larger-extension prior approval and a planning application.
Hypothetical example: an owner of a semi-detached house wants a 3.8m rear extension after reading about “new 4m rights”. The consultation does not establish an ordinary right for that scheme. The owner must assess the actual Class A provisions and whether the larger-extension route is available, including the required process before starting work.
Heat pumps: changes already effective
SI 2025/560 amended Class G of Part 14. Its changes include allowing up to two air source heat pumps at a detached dwellinghouse, retaining a one-pump limit for other dwellinghouses and blocks of flats, increasing the external-unit volume limit for dwellinghouses to 1.5 cubic metres while retaining 0.6 cubic metres for blocks of flats, and removing the specified boundary-distance restriction.
The instrument also changed the standards reference and replaced the condition concerning sole heating use with a condition that the pump is not solely used for cooling. These are not a general exemption for any equipment in any location. The rest of Class G still needs checking, including applicable siting, designation and standards requirements.
Article 7's transitional allowance concerned development that lost permission specifically because article 5(2) removed the alternative-standards wording. It ran only until the end of 28 May 2026. Do not use it as a current extension of every heat-pump rule or apply it to a different reason for ineligibility.
EV charging: distinguish homes from non-domestic parking
Articles 3–4 of the same 2025 instrument amended Classes D and E of Part 2. Changes include removing specified restrictions, raising the relevant non-domestic upstand limit from 2.3m to 2.7m, and adding a route for necessary equipment and equipment housing in a non-domestic area lawfully used for off-street parking.
That equipment-housing route has its own limits, including one unit, volume, height and separation requirements. It should not be presented as permission for a large equipment cabinet anywhere within a domestic garden. Identify whether the proposal is a wall outlet, an upstand or associated equipment before choosing the provision.
Conversion rights: what the 2024 amendments did
For Class MA, SI 2024/141 removed the three-month vacancy requirement and floorspace upper limit from the specified provisions. It did not remove the entire class's eligibility and prior-approval requirements. Establishing the previous lawful use and the complete route remains necessary.
For Class Q, SI 2024/579 revised agricultural conversion rights, including cumulative limits of ten dwellings and 1,000 square metres, with a 150-square-metre limit per dwelling under the revised provision. Other eligibility, building-operation and prior-approval tests remain material. Its article 10 allowed certain applications under the previously permitted route before 21 May 2025. An application validly within a saving provision must be assessed on its facts; the expired window is not available for a new 2026 application.
These are development-specific routes, distinct from ordinary rights to extend an existing house. Do not assume that a dwelling created through conversion receives every Part 1 householder right.
The April 2026 amendment and the NPPF version trap
SI 2026/313 created Class CA of Part 7 for qualifying reverse vending machines at shops, with limitations and a removal/reinstatement condition. It also amended rooftop-structure wording for specified institutional development and corrected cross-references.
For residential work, an especially relevant change is the GPDO definition of the NPPF: articles 3 and 8 expressly use December 2024 and revise specified prior-approval references. The new August 2026 NPPF does not itself amend that statutory reference. Read the actual provision instead of assuming every reference always means the latest framework.
How to use this register for your project
Keep a dated copy of the class and any amending or saving provision relied upon. Record the proposal's dimensions, lawful use, relevant dates and restriction checks. Where formal confirmation of proposed lawfulness is needed, consider the lawful development certificate route; a consultation article or this register is not a certificate.
Sources and review
The linked primary legislation, revised GPDO provisions and government consultations were checked with AI assistance on 8 September 2026. No implementation date is inferred from a consultation. The register has not received professional sign-off for an individual property and does not claim exhaustive monitoring of every PD amendment.