We Handle All The Planning

We work within the constraints of the act to ensure our design satisfies all criteria and can therefore be deemed legal under a Certificate of Lawfulness.

iHus are the only provider whose annexes meet both the requirements of the Caravan Act and building control standards to ensure your annexe is built to the highest standard, recognised and certified by building control.

Working with our partners and planning experts, we submit the plans to your Local Planning Authority (LPA) and liaise with them during the determination phase to ensure any questions are addressed and further information supplied as and when required. The ultimate aim after the eight week phase is to obtain the CoL, enabling your build to commence as soon as possible.

It is important to note that no additional surveys or assessments are required under a Certificate of Lawfulness, hence no delays or project cost growth.

In the event that you request full planning, our team are equally equipped to process your application through the Householder Application route and ‘delegated authority’, where the case officer and the LPA management team will make the decision. Occasionally, a full planning committee may also be involved in the decision-making process, which can add time, complexity, risk, and cost to your project.

Under full planning, your LPA are required to work within national guidelines for determination, but they also adopt their own local policies, meaning that no two applications are the same.

In some circumstances, one or more specialist surveys may be required to support full planning, including: Arboricultural (tree), Ecological (wildlife), Topographical (ground levels), BNG (Biodiversity Net Gain), SUD’s (sustainable drainage), Flood risk assessments, Archaeological surveys, or a Heritage report if you live in a listed building. Each of these involve separate fees payable to the specialist company undertaking the survey and associated time to complete, document, and review by the LPA.

If your main property is in a conservation area, national park, Green Belt, site of special scientific interest, or area of outstanding natural beauty, the LPA conservation officer will be involved and can influence what can be built and how it looks.

A full planning notice is issued when an application is successful and may have conditions attached that must be adhered to. The notice may also be issued with ‘pre-commencement’ conditions which must be discharged before work can start, which may incur delays and additional/small fees.

Our planning experts will work closely with your case officer during the planning process to give your application the best chance of being approved. However, if your application is refused, we will review the reasons for refusal and advise on the next steps, usually amending and re-submitting the application or appealing the decision.

If specifically requested, iHus can also process dual applications (Caravan Act and Householder Application) to increase the chance of planning approval. In this circumstance, the same fundamental design is prepared and issued on your behalf to the planning authority, along with any additional information necessary, to support the householder application. Although these applications are issued together, they are independent and their outcome is considered separately to one another.

What about building regulations for a granny annexe?

Each project is inspected by an independent building control body to guarantee that it meets or exceeds building standards. Our selected building control partner are registered by The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and are a registered Building Control Approver (RBCA).

*Please note for models in the 3632 range, building control is not always necessary.

How long does planning permission for a granny annexe take?

For the Caravan Act or Householder Application, we will work with you to agree/confirm basic design and prepare and submit the application/s to your LPA. Once validated (which can take up to four weeks), the planning application process typically takes a further eight weeks.

How does the Caravan Act differ from full planning and what is involved in the timescales?

No public consultation is required for a Certificate of Lawfulness (CoL). Unlike a traditional householder application, a CoL is based entirely on facts and law, not planning opinion. Because of this, there is no statutory public consultation period. Your neighbours, the Parish Council, and other bodies are not invited to submit objections regarding the design, scale, or impact of your annexe.

Weeks 1–8:

Legal assessment: Instead of weighing public opinion, an LPA case officer will look after your application and assess the evidence we provide. Their only job is to confirm that your proposed annexe meets the four legal tests of the Caravan Act.

Site visit: Sometimes during the eight week window, the officer may conduct a brief site visit to verify the physical layout of your garden and property.

The decision: The LPA has a statutory limit of eight weeks to issue your Certificate of Lawfulness. However, because the officer does not have to wait for a mandatory 21-day public consultation period to close, a Certificate of Lawfulness is frequently decided and issued much earlier than a standard householder planning application. Once issued, this is your legal green light, confirming your annexe is lawful and installation can begin.

Our sales team will be happy to provide you with further information on the planning process during initial discussions.