Pre-application planning advice for extending or altering your home

Before you apply for planning permission to extend or alter your home, we recommend using our pre-application advice service.

We can give you advice on your proposals and let you know whether the work you're proposing would be 'permitted development' or would need planning permission.

We'll send you confirmation of the advice we give, which will be useful if you ever sell your property. Proof that you've had the necessary approval for any changes you've made is often requested as part of a sale.

If you're applying for permission to run a business from your home, please see our pre-application planning advice for running a business from home instead.

Fees

There's a charge of £70 (including VAT) for this service. If you're applying for more than one development, we'll only charge you once.

If you can prove the application is for the sole use of a disabled person, we'll refund the application fee.

Before you apply

Any pre-application advice given by us should not be classed as a formal response, and doesn't affect any future decision about planning permission. Our advice will be based on the information you submit, and we can't be held responsible for any issues resulting from inaccurate information.

Any views and opinions expressed by us are given in good faith, based on the policies and site characteristics at the time, and to the best of our ability. These are given without prejudice to the formal consideration of any planning application you go on to submit. Any future planning application will still undergo consultation with the public and interested parties, which will be taken into account when we determine the application.

We cannot give guarantees about the final decision that will be made on any planning or related application. However, we will consider the advice note when making a decision on a future planning-related application you submit. Little or no weight will be given to our pre-application advice when it's over three years old.

How to apply

You can apply for pre-application planning advice by filling in our online form below. To apply for this service you need to agree that you're:

• enquiring about a property or site in the Barnsley borough
• requesting this service for yourself, or on behalf of someone who has given you their permission

If the property is or was once owned by Berneslai Homes, you also need to ask their permission. Write to: Berneslai Homes, PO Box 627, Barnsley, S70 9FZ.

If you need a VAT receipt for your payment, please provide your email address in the online form.

Documents you need to provide

You need to upload measurements and a sketch plan of your proposed works in the online form. Use our customer guidance and example sketch plans to help you provide the information you need.

Each document you upload must be less than 15MB file size, and your combined documents must not exceed 75MB. If you need to submit larger documents you can either:

• Email them to developmentmanagement@barnsley.gov.uk with the site address in the email title. The total attachment size must be less than 100MB in file size. If your documents are bigger than this, please split them across multiple emails.
• Save them to a CD or submit paper copies at one of our offices. You can also post them to: Barnsley Council, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG. Clearly mark the CD or plans with the site address and  'Planning and Building Control'. We can't accept .exe or ZIP files on CD.

When you fill in the online form you should tell us if any your documents have been submitted separately.

What happens next

When we've received your online application, payment and supporting documents, we'll aim to contact you within 28 days to set up a meeting or provide advice. If we don't have all the details we need from you, we may ask you to send through additional information before we can process your request.

If we advise you that planning permission isn't required, you might still need to get building regulations approval for your works.