Getting Started
172 sources in the library on getting started, 8 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 2 of 5.
- fair RN-M13M0Z cited
HomeOwners Alliance
Planning application fees across the UK in 2026. England: householder application £258, which also covers full planning permission for significant alterations to an existing house, £578 for a full application to build a house, and £509 for a full application for two or more dwellings, with more per house above 10. Wales: householder £230, and £460 for two or more dwellings, flats, or per dwelling on schemes under 50 dwellings. Scotland: householder £300, new house £600. Northern Ireland: house extension £327, single new house £975. Notes that the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 introduced an automatic annual uplift by the previous September's CPI, capped at 10%, and that a government consultation which closed on 24 September 2024 proposed raising the England householder fee from £258 to £528. The Planning Portal adds a £70 including VAT service charge, waived where the planning fee is below £60. Other costs listed include a lawful development certificate £129, drawings £1,000 or more, and a planning consultant £1,000 to £3,000.
- fair RN-DX7AAN cited
HomeOwners Alliance
Ten improvements with spend against value added, from HomeOwners Alliance research with the Federation of Master Builders and The Guild of Property Professionals. Removing an internal wall for an open plan kitchen diner costs around £3,500 and adds £48,000 in London or £27,000 in Dorset, and most builders finish it in under a week. Garden room £6,700 adds £36,000 in Surrey or £10,000 in London. Kitchen refresh £4,000 adds £15,000. Downstairs loo in an understairs cupboard £1,500 adds £26,000. Ensuite carved from a master bedroom £5,000 adds about £14,525 in London over roughly 11 days. Off street parking £2,000 adds £13,354 on an average Surrey property, with Direct Line putting a parking space at up to 13% of value. Back garden £4,000 adds £9,000. Repainting £1,000 adds £5,000. Loft conversion £20,000 adds £40,000. Obtaining planning permission costs up to £400 and can add up to 10% of value per Hamilton Fraser.
- fair RN-NQEPBP cited
HomeOwners Alliance
2026 loft conversion costs by type and by house type. Average across the UK about £50,000. Velux or rooflight conversion £27,500, dormer £50,000, hip to gable £60,000, mansard £65,000. By house type: semi detached £50,000, terrace with a dormer around £50,000, detached £62,500, bungalow £75,000. Rate per square metre £1,250 to £2,500 per m2, applied to the usable gross internal area measured where headroom is 1.5m or above. Element costs within a £50,000 dormer: stairs £1,000 to £1,500 for a standard flight, flooring £15 to £25 per m2 for vinyl or £10 to £65 per m2 for carpet, labour £14,000 to £35,000. Loft insulation costs cited from the Energy Saving Trust at about £900 for a three bedroom semi, £1,100 detached and £1,200 for a detached bungalow, saving about £300 a year. DIY on suitable elements can cut up to 40% of labour.
Cited in Does a Loft Conversion Add Value? UK Data & ROI, Hip-to-Gable Loft Conversions Explained.
- fair RN-WWNN7R cited
HomeOwners Alliance
Whole house renovation cost benchmarks. Full structural survey £500 to £1,500 and a 10% contingency on the total. Single storey extension £1,800 to £3,000 per m2 with the rate falling as area grows, giving roughly £40,000 to £56,000, £60,000 to £84,000 and £100,000 to £140,000 for successively larger extensions. Loft conversion £27,500 to £75,000 with a dormer averaging £50,000. New bathroom average £6,000. New kitchen £10,000 to £20,000, with 10% of households spending over £50,000. Garage conversion average £6,000. Replacement uPVC window about £400 to £600 supplied and fitted per RICS. Installing central heating from scratch in a three bedroom house about £4,000; replacing a combi boiler about £2,700 per British Gas. Dry rot treatment by a specialist £1,000 to £2,000 per AXA, and woodworm treatment of a three bedroom loft £450 to £800, or £20 to £50 for DIY treatment, with active infestation identified by roughly 2mm holes and fresh sawdust.
Cited in How Much Does a New Kitchen Cost in 2026? (UK), Renovation Cost Per m²: Real UK Figures by Spec.
- fair RN-LNRA2V cited
University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economy
A University of Cambridge evidence review of UK self-build and custom housebuilding. It notes there are no authoritative statistics and reports estimates of about 10,000 to 15,000 completions a year.
Cited in Self-Build & Custom Build Basics.
- fair RN-5XVH97 cited
Which?
Which? loft conversion costing, updated 24 April 2026, using Building Cost Information Service data from 2025 with VAT included. Benchmarks a small conversion as 4 x 5 metres with two windows and a large conversion as 12 x 7 metres with four windows. Gives the budget split: labour 35 to 40%, materials 25 to 30%, fixtures and fittings 10 to 15%, planning and permissions up to 5%, and a contingency of no less than 10%, raised to 15 to 20% where structural work is involved. On value, a 2025 Nationwide report is cited: a loft conversion can add up to 24% to a property's value, a 10% increase in floor space adds about 5% to the price of a typical house, and adding a large double bedroom of about 13 m2 plus a bathroom to a three bedroom one bathroom house can add as much as 24%. On buildability, houses built before 1970 usually have open self supporting rafters and are easier to convert, while houses built after about 1970 tend to have trussed roofs, which need more structural work and can double the cost. Most conversions fall under permitted development, but an application where needed can cost up to £1,000.
Cited in Loft Conversion Mistakes to Avoid.
- supplier figure RN-F2HSU5 cited
Ecology Building Society
The Ecology Building Society's product page for its self-build mortgage. It confirms the lender offers up to 80% loan-to-value on a repayment basis for energy-efficient self-build projects.
Cited in Self-Build & Custom Build Basics.
- supplier figure RN-FMOBQ5 cited
HSS Hire
HSS Hire product page for a single portable site toilet; it gives the weekly hire price with and without VAT, including a weekly empty and clean.
Cited in Living Through a Renovation.
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Building Control Northern Ireland (the 11 district councils)
NORTHERN IRELAND. The Northern Ireland Building Regulations are made by the Department of Finance and administered by the 11 DISTRICT COUNCILS, so there is no private sector alternative: Northern Ireland has no approved inspectors and no registered building control approvers, and the England route of appointing a private building control body simply does not exist. The page lists the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 with the amending regulations of 2014, 2016 and 2022, and links the current and historical Technical Booklets plus the contraventions and appeals route. The regulations are intended to secure the safety, health, welfare and convenience of people in and around buildings and to further the conservation of fuel and energy. The site names all 11 councils including Belfast City, Derry City and Strabane, Lisburn and Castlereagh, Newry Mourne and Down, Mid Ulster and Fermanagh and Omagh.
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Revenue Scotland
The Scottish replacement for Stamp Duty Land Tax, which every England-written renovation note gets wrong for Scottish readers. LBTT replaced UK Stamp Duty Land Tax in Scotland from 1 April 2015 and is collected by Revenue Scotland, not HMRC. Its structure is progressive in the same way as SDLT: the percentage rate for each band applies only to the part of the price above the relevant threshold and up to the next, and nothing is payable below the first threshold. Separate rate and band tables exist for residential properties, residential property with the Additional Dwelling Supplement, non-residential properties and commercial leases. The Additional Dwelling Supplement is the Scottish equivalent of the higher rates for additional properties. Revenue Scotland also administers the Scottish Landfill Tax, the Scottish Aggregates Tax and the Scottish Building Safety Levy, and publishes a tax calculator and legislation guidance.
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Department for Business and Trade
Published 31 March 2026, last updated 21 August 2026, and applying to England, Scotland and Wales. States that the UK continues to recognise the CE marking alongside or in place of the UKCA marking for the Great Britain market under the Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment) Regulations 2024, so a CE marked product remains lawful to place on the GB market and manufacturers may choose either route. Sets out the UKCA and CE regimes spanning over 20 product types, and the duties of each economic operator: the manufacturer designs and marks the product, applies identification details (name, trade name or trademark and postal address) and retains the technical documentation. Northern Ireland uses CE or CE and UKNI marking instead, and the UKCA marking does not apply in Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man or the British Overseas Territories.
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Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
A closed scheme that still binds new owners, which is a trap for anyone buying a property to renovate. The Green Deal is closed to new applicants, but where a property carries a Green Deal loan the liability travels with the property: whoever moves in is responsible for repaying it, through a charge added to the electricity bill, and can change electricity supplier only to one participating in the scheme. A seller or landlord is legally required to tell a buyer or tenant that a Green Deal loan exists, that they will be responsible for it, and to show them the Energy Performance Certificate before they move in; the EPC states what improvements were made and how much remains to be repaid. Early repayment is possible but may attract extra costs, notified by the company managing the loan. Complaints go to the Green Deal provider first, whose details are on the EPC, or to the DESNZ Green Deal team if the provider has ceased trading; if unresolved within 8 weeks the complaint goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service for mis-selling and other financial issues, or to the Energy Ombudsman for poor installation work or non-disclosure by a seller or landlord.
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GOV.UK
The council grant for adapting a home, and what work it can pay for. Eligibility covers physical disability, learning disability, age-related needs, autism, cognitive impairment such as dementia, a progressive condition such as motor neurone disease, terminal illness and mental health conditions. The listed works are wide enough to cover substantial building work: widening doors and installing ramps or grab rails, improving access to rooms and facilities with a stairlift or level access shower, improving access to the garden, building an extension such as a downstairs bedroom, providing a heating system suitable for the applicant's needs, and adapting heating or lighting controls. Confirms a Disabled Facilities Grant does not affect any other benefits the applicant receives.
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GOV.UK
Carries the maximum grant by nation, which differs across the UK and is the figure most articles quote wrongly. England up to 30,000 pounds, Wales up to 36,000 pounds, Northern Ireland up to 25,000 pounds, and in Scotland Disabled Facilities Grants are not available at all, with support instead provided through equipment and adaptations schemes. Some councils may give more. The award is means tested on household income and household savings over 6,000 pounds, but disabled children under 18 can get a grant without their parents' income being taken into account, and landlords can get one without their income and savings being assessed, though the council may require the property to be let to another disabled person if the tenant moves within 5 years. Warns that starting work before the council approves the application may mean no grant at all. Payment is either in instalments as work progresses or in full on completion, paid to the contractor directly or through the applicant, and where the applicant or a relative does the work the council will normally only accept invoices for materials or services bought.
- very strong RN-DMB7DI
GOV.UK
Sets out that councils may charge a second homes premium of up to 2 times the normal Council Tax, and an empty home premium once a property has been empty for a year, rising to up to 4 times the normal bill after 10 years empty. Both premiums can be waived for up to 12 months where the property is being marketed, is in probate, or is undergoing major repairs, and derelict homes are exempt.
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Health and Safety Executive
HSE guidance (updated 22 June 2026) stating that over 500 construction workers are believed to die each year from silica dust exposure, and that construction dust causes lung cancer, asthma, COPD and silicosis. Dust control is a legal duty under the COSHH Regulations, following an assess, control and review model, with detailed guidance in construction information sheet CIS 36.
- very strong RN-NVUJOF
Health and Safety Executive
HSE guidance (updated 22 November 2024) confirming demolition is construction work under CDM 2015. The client must give the local authority at least 6 weeks' notice before demolition starts and must have a refurbishment or demolition asbestos survey carried out by a competent surveyor before contractors begin. The method of demolition must be set out in writing by a competent person, exclusion zones must keep debris within the site boundary, and top-down demolition is preferred on confined urban sites.
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Health and Safety Executive
HSE's dutyholder table for CDM 2015. Defines a domestic client as someone having construction work done on their own home, or a family member's home, that is not part of a business; domestic clients are in scope but their client duties normally transfer to the contractor on a single contractor project and to the principal contractor where there is more than one contractor, unless the domestic client instead makes a written agreement with the principal designer to carry out the client duties. Commercial clients must make suitable arrangements for managing the project, appoint other dutyholders, allocate sufficient time and resources, prepare and provide relevant information, ensure the principal designer and principal contractor carry out their duties, and ensure welfare facilities are provided. Designers must eliminate, reduce or control foreseeable risks arising during construction and during maintenance and use. Principal designers are designers appointed by the client on projects involving more than one contractor.
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HM Revenue & Customs
Form VAT431C and notes for reclaiming VAT when converting an existing non-residential building into a dwelling. Published 5 December 2023, updated 25 January 2024. Requires the building regulations completion certificate, planning permission evidence and conversion plans; claims must be made within 6 months of completion (3 months for conversions completed before 5 December 2023). Postal claims go to BT&C VAT, HMRC, BX9 1WR and original documents should not be sent.
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HM Revenue and Customs
Defines the boundary of the scheme, which decides whether a given trade's invoice should carry a CIS deduction. Work covered is most construction work to a permanent or temporary building or structure and civil engineering such as roads and bridges, and expressly includes preparing the site such as laying foundations and access works, demolition and dismantling, building work, alterations, repairs and decorating, installing systems for heating, lighting, power, water and ventilation, and cleaning the inside of buildings after construction work. The listed exceptions are architecture and surveying, scaffolding hire with no labour, carpet fitting, making materials used in construction including plant and machinery, delivering materials, and work on construction sites that is clearly not construction such as running a canteen. Confirms contractors must register but subcontractors need not, though unregistered subcontractors suffer deductions at a higher rate, and that the same rules apply to a business based outside the UK doing construction work in the UK.
- very strong RN-TBNA5T
HM Revenue and Customs
The single most useful correction for any derelict-property or doer-upper note. HMRC states flatly that there is no tax relief and no lower rate of SDLT for uninhabitable properties, that a very high proportion of repayment claims in this area are wrong, and that buyers should be cautious about being misled by repayment agents. Being suitable for use as a dwelling is not the same as being ready for immediate occupation, and if a building retains the character or identity of a residential property it is wholly residential for SDLT despite disrepair. Lists the defects that expressly do not make a property unsuitable for use as a dwelling, even in combination: temporary removal of bathroom or kitchen facilities before sale, substantial repair or replacement of windows, floors, doors or roof, replacement boiler and pipework, unsafe electrical wiring, services switched off, pest infestation, damp proofing needed or plasterboard damage, flood damage, the presence of asbestos, and structural defects that can be repaired. Past use as a dwelling is a strong indicator of suitability. Cites the Court of Appeal in Amarjeet and Tajinder Mudan [2025] EWCA Civ 799 as now legally binding, upholding the Upper Tribunal at [2024] UKUT 307 (TCC). Manual published 19 March 2016, updated 1 September 2026.
- very strong RN-YP8R7O
HM Revenue and Customs
The five conditions that must all be met for a sale to be free of Capital Gains Tax under Private Residence Relief, two of which renovation choices can break. You must have one home and have lived in it as your main home for the whole period of ownership; you must not have let part of it out, though having a lodger does not count; you must not have used part of the home exclusively for business purposes, and using a room as a temporary or occasional office expressly does not count as exclusive business use; the grounds including all buildings must be less than 5,000 square metres, just over an acre; and you must not have bought it just to make a gain. Where all apply the relief is automatic and no tax is due; where any fails there may be tax to pay. Married couples and civil partners can only count one property as their main home at any one time. The exclusive-business-use point is what a dedicated garden office or converted consulting room can trigger.
- very strong RN-RVXVV0
HM Revenue and Customs
Carries the actual deduction rates, which explain the difference between two builders' quotes and the numbers on a subcontractor's payment statement. A contractor must deduct 20 per cent from payments to a registered subcontractor, called net payment status or payment under deduction, and pass it to HMRC as an advance payment towards the subcontractor's tax and National Insurance. If the subcontractor is not registered for the scheme, the contractor must deduct 30 per cent instead. A subcontractor who does not want deductions taken in advance can apply for gross payment status, which also registers them for CIS. Registration applies to a sole trader, the owner of a limited company, or a partner in a partnership or trust, and is not required of an employee.
- very strong RN-6V9WLL
HM Revenue and Customs
The duties that attach to anyone who pays subcontractors for construction work, which matters for a homeowner acting as their own main contractor and for judging whether a builder is operating properly. Registration as a contractor is required if you pay subcontractors to do construction work, or if your business does not do construction work but has spent more than 3 million pounds on construction in the 12 months since the first payment. The six rules are: register before taking on the first subcontractor; check whether the person should be employed rather than subcontracted, with a penalty if they should be an employee; verify with HMRC that subcontractors are registered with CIS; make deductions from payments and pay them to HMRC, the deductions counting as advance payments towards the subcontractor's tax and National Insurance; file monthly returns and keep full CIS records, with a penalty for failing to; and notify HMRC of changes to the business.
- very strong RN-WAUO83
Homes England
Establishes what the government's housing and regeneration agency actually does, which matters because renovation articles often name Homes England as a source of homeowner grants when its remit is different. Its stated functions are to use its powers, expertise, land, capital and influence to form partnerships bridging public and private sector delivery of new homes and regeneration; to champion sustainable, well-designed homes and places; and to support a more resilient, diverse and innovative housing sector by helping new market entrants and small and medium-sized enterprises grow, encouraging greater use of modern methods of construction, and promoting attention to building safety. It names its partners as local authorities, housebuilders, investors and developers, not individual homeowners, and it now also operates the National Housing Bank. Its strategic plan sets out its mission and strategic objectives.
- very strong RN-KO2L0L
Homes England (GOV.UK)
Confirms the Help to Build equity loan is closed to new applications in England. For existing borrowers: a £1 monthly management fee, 3 years to build the home, no interest for the first 5 years, then 1.75 per cent in year 6 (an £80,000 loan costs £1,400 a year, or £116.67 a month) rising from year 7 in line with CPI plus 2 per cent. Homes England contact 01158 526 934.
- very strong RN-40IW04
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Covers requirements RA1 and RA2 of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010, which apply to the erection of a dwelling or of a building containing one or more dwellings. RA1 requires gigabit-ready physical infrastructure running from a network termination point in each dwelling to a distribution point (or as close as reasonably practicable, or to an access point, where the developer has no right to install in the intervening land), plus a common access point where the building contains more than one dwelling. RA2 requires an actual connection to a gigabit-capable public electronic communications network, subject to a cost cap set at paragraph 2.21 of GBP 2,000 for each new dwelling erected, after deducting any financial contribution from the network operator. Paragraph 1.6 exempts wholly non-residential buildings, existing buildings undergoing major renovation works, new dwellings created through a material change of use, rooms for residential purposes in hostels, hotels, boarding houses, schools and hospitals, Ministry of Defence and national security buildings, Schedule 2 exempt buildings, and buildings in isolated areas where a USO-standard connection would exceed the cost cap. Section 3 and Appendix B set out the connectivity plan, the model form a developer submits with the Building Regulations application.
- very strong RN-DSFI2B
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
This is the part of the Building Regulations that catches a whole-house renovation and is almost never mentioned in renovation guides. Requirement R1 of Schedule 1 applies to the erection of buildings AND to major renovation works to buildings, including existing dwellings, except where requirement RA1 (new dwellings) applies. Regulation 44C of the Building Regulations 2010 defines major renovation works as works at the end-user location encompassing structural modifications of the entire in-building physical infrastructure, or of a significant part of it. The duty is to provide in-building physical infrastructure from the service provider access point to the occupier network termination point capable of hosting copper, fibre or wireless delivering broadband speeds greater than 30 Mbps (paragraph 1.2); no cabling, equipment or anything beyond the network termination point is required (paragraph 1.4), and a multi-dwelling building undergoing major renovation must also have a common access point. Paragraph 1.5 exempts Schedule 2 Classes 2 to 7 work (sheds, domestic greenhouses, garages, conservatories and other small detached buildings with no sleeping accommodation), scheduled monuments under section 1 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, listed buildings and buildings in conservation areas under sections 1 and 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 where compliance would unacceptably alter character or appearance, and major renovation works where the cost of compliance would be disproportionate to the benefit, which must be demonstrated to the building control body.
- very strong RN-M9H2XK
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Non-statutory guidance published 13 July 2026 and updated 31 July 2026 when the PDF was replaced by an HTML version, applying to England, issued as an annex to the Awaab's Law Phase 2 guidance for social landlords. Its key date is that Phase 2 of Awaab's Law comes into effect on 30 November 2026, which extends the duty beyond the damp and mould and emergency hazards of Phase 1 to a wider set of hazards. The document sets the thresholds a social landlord uses to triage each hazard, which is the practical test of whether a reported defect starts the statutory repair clock. Useful for distinguishing what social tenants can require of a landlord from what a private homeowner or private tenant can, since Awaab's Law applies to the social rented sector.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The 8 page document that sets out what a competent person scheme operator must satisfy, and it is what connects UKAS accreditation to the schemes a homeowner meets. Records that schemes are authorised under paragraph 4A of Schedule 1 to the Building Act 1984 and named in Schedule 3 to the Building Regulations 2010 as amended, and that in all cases demonstration must be sufficient to meet BS EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012, the product certification body standard. Condition 1 requires the scheme operator to achieve and maintain UKAS accreditation to BS EN ISO/IEC 17065:2012, within one year of authorisation for an extension to an existing scheme or within two years for a new scheme operator, with a UKAS pre-assessment submitted with the application. Condition 3 requires assessors and inspectors to be competent at least to the equivalent level in the relevant sector Minimum Technical Competence assessment procedure. Condition 4 requires a transparent fee structure, self-financing within not later than five years of authorisation, and use of registrants' registration and notification fees only for the benefit of registrants or the sector. Condition 5 requires documented management of conflicts of interest, noting the risk where a scheme is owned by a larger commercial, trade or professional body. In force for any UKAS assessment begun on or after 1 April 2016.
- very strong RN-57XOOI
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Planning practice guidance on CIL, last updated 17 June 2026. Confirms the self-build exemption for a new dwelling built by someone who will occupy it, provided the exemption is claimed and a commencement notice submitted before work starts. Householder extensions under 100 square metres fall within the minor development exemption; larger residential extensions can claim exemption under regulations 42A and 42B where the owner occupies the house as their sole residence. A late commencement notice triggers a surcharge of 20 per cent of the notional chargeable amount, capped at £2,500.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The publication page for the conditions a competent person self-certification scheme operator must meet, applying to England, first published 6 June 2012 and last updated 1 April 2016, from which date the conditions bite on any UKAS assessment begun on or after 1 April 2016. Hosts two documents: the main Competent person schemes conditions of authorisation of April 2016, an 8 page PDF of 289 KB, and a separate Building regulations: air tightness testing schemes conditions of authorisation of 5 pages and 141 KB, added 31 July 2014, because air tightness tester schemes carry different requirements from other types of work. Useful for establishing that a competent person scheme is a government-authorised, UKAS-accredited certification body rather than a trade membership list.
- very strong RN-WDQPUZ
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The only official series on how large the competent person schemes actually are, collected every 6 months from the schemes authorised in schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2010 as amended, covering total registered membership at the end of each period and the number of jobs those members undertook. Published 12 December 2012 and last updated 6 June 2018, with the latest document a 24 page PDF covering 1 October 2006 to 31 March 2018, so the series has not been refreshed since 2018 and any current membership figure quoted from it is dated. Three caveats matter for anyone citing the numbers: registered membership is counted by business not by individual, so the number of competent individuals is higher than the membership figure; the statistics combine all types of work except electrical installations for each scheme operator to avoid double counting members and notifications, because many members do more than one type of work; and schemes have changed over the collection period, so past and current data are not always meaningfully comparable.
- very strong RN-0RWQTJ
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Statutory guidance published 23 June 2026, applying to England, issued under section 9 of the Housing Act 2004, which local authorities must have regard to when assessing hazards, and which replaces the previous operating guidance issued in 2006. The critical correction it carries is the hazard count: the HHSRS now covers 21 potential hazards, not the 29 in the 2006 guidance, and Part 2 contains a hazard profile for each of the 21. Confirms that a local authority must take enforcement action where it finds a category 1 hazard and has a power, not a duty, to enforce category 2 hazards. Issued in three parts: Part 1 an introductory guide (24 pages) on the theory, principles and assessment process; Part 2 a technical guide for assessors (174 pages) with the hazard profiles; Part 3 a supplementary guide to the hazard of fire and explosions (66 pages).
- very strong RN-6MMER0
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The current NPPF, published 17 August 2026 (130 pages), replacing the framework first published March 2012 and revised July 2018, February 2019, July 2021, September 2023, December 2023 and December 2024, and also replacing Planning policy for traveller sites. The single most important thing about this edition for anyone citing it: the framework has been completely restructured from continuously numbered paragraphs into lettered and numbered policies, so every existing citation of an NPPF paragraph number is now stale. The chapters are Plan-making (PM1 to 17), Decision-making (DM1 to 10), Achieving sustainable development (S1 to 6), Climate change (CC1 to 3), Homes (HO1 to 13), Economy (E1 to 4), Town centres (TC1 to 4), Communications (CO1 to 2), Clean energy and water (W1 to 4), Minerals (M1 to 6), Making effective use of land (L1 to 3), Green Belt (GB1 to 8), Well-designed places (DP1 to 4), Transport (TR1 to 8), Healthy communities (HC1 to 8), Pollution (P1 to 6), Flood risk (F1 to 9), Natural environment (N1 to 6) and Historic environment (HE1 to 10). Policy GB7(1)(b) is the one homeowners meet: the reuse, extension, alteration or replacement of an existing building is not inappropriate development in the Green Belt provided the existing building is of permanent and substantial construction, is lawful in planning terms, and any extension or alteration will not result in a disproportionate increase in size compared to the original building, with footnote 40 defining the original building as the building that existed on 1 July 1948 or, if later, as it was originally built. Policy HE5(2)(c) now defines substantial harm expressly, as where a development proposal would seriously affect a key element of a heritage asset significance, and HE4(2) requires clear and convincing justification for any harm to a designated heritage asset.
- very strong RN-ZM5DZM
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The landing page for the 2019 research, published 1 October 2019 and applying to England, hosting the 87 page 3.97 MB report. States the primary aim was to evaluate whether the ventilation provisions recommended in the 2010 edition of Approved Document F provide satisfactory indoor air quality in new homes, with a secondary aim of establishing the extent to which installed systems comply with the minimum ADF provisions. Its headline conclusion is the one to cite: the study found poor indoor air quality in a number of the monitored homes, and failure to meet indoor air quality indicators corresponded in all cases with failure to meet the ADF ventilation recommendations, so the shortfall lay in installation and commissioning rather than in the standard itself.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Office for Product Safety and Standards
The official list that decides which British and European standards a construction product's declaration of performance must be assessed against, first published 18 December 2020 and last updated 26 September 2025, applying to England, Scotland and Wales. Explains that designated standards support Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011 as amended from time to time, and that together with the horizontal standards on assessment methods they create the common technical language UK approved bodies use when carrying out assessments. Published as a notice of publication dated 26 September 2025, a 51 page PDF, superseding the notice of 1 January 2021 of 53 pages, alongside a consolidated list in ODS format at version 2. This is the reference that turns the standard number cited in a declaration of performance into a check that the right standard was used. A companion page covers horizontal test specifications for construction products.
- very strong RN-MQ9OJ9
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland runs a materially wider set of housing grants than Great Britain, administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive rather than a local council. Six schemes are listed. The Affordable Warmth Scheme addresses fuel poverty and energy inefficiency for low-income households. The Disabled Facilities Grant adapts a disabled person's home, but unlike in England it requires a health trust occupational therapist to recommend the work. The Repair Grant helps landlords where a council has issued a statutory notice for repairs. The Renovation Grant is for homes inspected and found unfit to live in, and the property must be the applicant's main or only home. The Replacement Grant is available only where the home is in a rural area, is unfit to live in and repair is not an option. The Home Repair Assistance Grant covers small-scale repair work and improvements. The Renovation, Replacement and Home Repair Assistance Grants have no equivalent in England.
- very strong RN-I3VUJ8
Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
Scotland's equivalent of the small claims track, and the figures differ sharply from England and Wales. A Simple Procedure claim can be made for payment of a sum of money where the value of the claim is 5,000 pounds or less, or for delivery or recovery of moveable property or an order to make someone do something, but in each of those cases only where there is an alternative money claim of 5,000 pounds or less. Where the value of the claim is over 5,000 pounds the ordinary cause procedure must be followed instead, so a Scottish homeowner with a 7,000 pound builder dispute is not in the simple track at all, unlike an English claimant whose small claims track runs to 10,000 pounds. Claims are made in the sheriff court by a claimant against a respondent, decided by a sheriff or summary sheriff, and no solicitor is required. New rules apply to claims initiated on or after 31 May 2023, and claims should be submitted through Civil Online, with sheriff approval needed to proceed on paper. Advises trying to settle first and considering Alternative Dispute Resolution, to which the sheriff may also refer parties after the claim form is lodged.
- very strong RN-NBV4MJ
Scottish Government
The Scottish equivalent of English competent person self-certification, and it works differently in ways every England-written note misses. Scotland uses a building warrant system under the Building (Scotland) Act 2003, with roles split between verifiers, approved building professionals (approved bodies and approved certifiers), local authorities and building owners. Certification in Scotland is optional, not the default, and covers design or construction, applying only where the work requires a building warrant; the works that can be certified are listed on the Scottish Government Certification Register, and the Scottish Government maintains the only authoritative list of registered approved building professionals. The benefit stated is that the work is certified by qualified building professionals as complying with regulations. Related guidance includes the Certification Handbook, Procedural Guidance on Certification covering what to submit with a building warrant application, and Modern methods of construction guidance for verifiers and certifiers. Applications for building warrants and completion certificates are submitted online through the eBuildingStandards.scot portal via an eDevelopment account.