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Planning Permission: Heat Pumps

Asked by Dr Roz SavageLiberal DemocratMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled Answered 20 October 2025UIN 81058

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that householders in conservation areas whose permitted development rights were removed by local authorities are not required to submit a full householder planning application in order to install air source heat pumps, in the context of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2025, Section G, protections safeguarding the amenities of conservation areas.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook

National permitted development rights enable the installation of air and ground source heat pumps without the need for a planning application.

Local authorities are able to remove permitted development rights by making an Article 4 direction if this is justified. In such cases an application for planning permission will be required in order to carry out the development previously allowed by the permitted development right.

We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.

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