Whether your Rushden annexe needs full planning permission depends on how it’s built and how it’s genuinely used, mobile and ancillary can mean a much simpler route than permanent and self-contained. We check this properly from the outset.
Get Your Free Route CheckRushden families often assume a granny annexe is either always simple or always complicated, the reality depends entirely on how it’s built and used. The Caravan Sites Act 1968 defines a caravan as a structure capable of being moved by road, within strict size limits, and a genuinely mobile annexe meeting that definition can sometimes avoid planning permission altogether.
Permitted development under Class E covers incidental outbuildings in Rushden, subject to height and coverage limits, but not genuine self-contained living accommodation with its own bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen used independently.
We assess your specific Rushden property and plans against all three routes honestly, rather than assuming the most complex one applies by default. A Rushden annexe needing full planning permission usually needs both, our Building Regulations drawings in Rushden service covers the technical compliance side, and our structural calculations in Rushden service covers the engineering detail.
Caravan Act, permitted development, or full planning
Movable structures that may need no permission at all
Permitted development limits checked properly
Applications built to be approved
We start every Rushden annexe project by establishing the real starting point, a mobile structure within Caravan Act limits, an incidental outbuilding, or genuine independent living space, since that single distinction shapes everything that follows.
Your Rushden application or certificate, whichever applies, is built around what your local council specifically expects to see, not a generic template.
Structural and building regulations work for Rushden annexe projects is handled properly from the outset, informed by real experience with this kind of project.
Every Rushden annexe assessment starts with an honest read on which of the three routes genuinely applies, not an assumption that defaults to the more complex, more expensive option.
We check the real mobility and size of a proposed Rushden structure against the Caravan Act’s actual legal definition, rather than assuming it qualifies.
Where a Rushden annexe genuinely needs a full application, we say so directly and build it around what the council expects to see. If you need help with a granny annexe, give us a call on 0330 133 5316 or fill in the form below.
This genuinely depends on your specific plans for Rushden, we check whether the structure is mobile, incidental, or self-contained before advising either way.
The Caravan Sites Act 1968 sets the limits, 20 metres long, 6.8 metres wide, 3.05 metres internal height, and the structure must be moveable by road in one or two sections, we check whether your Rushden plans genuinely meet this.
It depends on genuine use, an incidental Rushden outbuilding can qualify under Class E, but introducing real sleeping accommodation used independently takes it outside permitted development regardless of size.
Genuine independence is the test in Rushden, if the annexe could function as a separate home on its own, full planning permission is almost always the realistic route.
Strongly recommended for Rushden annexes, an assumption that a structure qualifies isn’t the same as formal confirmation, and a Lawful Development Certificate closes that gap.
Yes, we coordinate every part of a Rushden annexe project, from establishing the correct route through to building regulations sign-off, so nothing falls through the gap.