Pre-application advice for householders

Before getting in contact to use these services, you may find these resources helpful:

• our planning application section 
• the interactive guides on the Planning Portal

Duty planning officer service

This service helps the general public with planning advice. You can get this advice in person or by phone. It covers 'permitted development' and other development proposals. These include extending your home or adding a garden outbuilding.

The duty planning officer can only provide general advice. They may not be able to give a definitive answer about whether a proposal is ‘permitted development’ or whether it will be acceptable. This often requires more research. We may advise you to submit a pre-application enquiry for site specific proposals. 

You can also use this service to check if you've provided the right documents for your application. It does not review the content or quality of the documents. That happens during the validation stage.

This service offers verbal advice only. You will not be given a written response.

This service does not cover enquiries about building a new house. For enquiries about building a new house you should submit a non-householder pre-application enquiry.

How to book

In-person appointments are for 30 minutes. We hold them on Wednesdays at our Time Square office.

An appointment costs £60. You can pay the fee by:

• using our online payment system
• phone 01344 352000

After you have paid, email a copy of the receipt to dc.minor@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. Use the subject line 'Duty meeting fee paid' and include your address. The duty officer will get in touch to arrange a suitable time to discuss your proposal. You can also include basic details about what you wish to discuss. 

You should receive a reply to your email within 24 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays).

If you’d like written confirmation of any advice from the duty officer meeting, you can ask for follow-up advice. The fee for this is set out in the tables below. 

Written advice service

This service offers different levels of advice to householders.

To use this service, choose from one of the options below and use the householder pre-application enquiry form to ask us for advice.

Make a householder pre-application enquiry

Permitted development enquiry

Find out if you need planning permission for a change you are making to your house or flat.
We will reply to you with one of the following responses:

• your proposal is permitted development and no planning application is needed
• your proposal is permitted development but still needs a 'prior notification' application
• your proposal is not permitted development and does need a planning application

We will check:

• your permitted development rights under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015
• property history and whether permitted development rights have been removed
• if there are local restrictions or constraints on the land.
• the current use of the building or site

This is a desk based assessment and does not include a verbal discussion with an officer or a site visit.

It does not provide a formal decision.

You will need to submit an application to get:

• planning permission
• confirmation that permission is not needed for proposed work
• confirmation that permission was not needed for completed work

The response you receive will tell you how to get this.

Acceptability of proposal in principal

Use this service if you want to see if your proposal is likely to be accepted in principle.

It’s useful for cases like extensions or outbuildings proposed within the Green Belt.

You will receive a written response after the case officer reviews your proposal. They will consider relevant policy advice from the Development Plan team.

This service does not cover:

• site visits
• additional consultations
• meetings for follow-up discussions

Detailed advice

Use this service to get a full written response in relation to your proposal. We'll work with key internal experts like the Highway Authority and the Tree Service.

We will tell you the following:

• whether we would be likely to support your proposal if you make an application
• identify the key planning considerations
• set out any changes that could make your proposal more acceptable in planning terms

We will check:

• the key, relevant policies of the current statutory development plan
• historic planning applications on the land or property
• relevant planning constraints on the land
• known key material planning considerations from a desk based assessment
• if your work needs listed building consent

If you want to meet with the case officer, there will be a standard meeting fee.

Listed property advice

Both internal and external work on a listed building may need listed building consent. It is important to understand the heritage implications of your proposed development.

Our urban design and heritage officer will give specialist advice in relation to:

• the need for listed building consent
• the special interest of the listed building and its significance
• the nature of the proposals and likely impact on significance
• whether the proposals are likely to receive listed building consent

We give this advice in writing following a site visit. We will charge for meetings at our usual rate per officer.

This pre-application advice does not replace the need for householders to seek expert heritage advice for their proposals.

This type of advice is only appropriate for householders.

Follow-up advice

If you wish to follow-up on the advice given, you can give us new or revised information within 12 weeks of your response letter's date. The fee for this is set out in the table below.

To get follow-up advice, you must submit a new householder pre-application enquiry and select the follow-up option. 

A fee will not be required for pre-application advice where the proposed works are required to meet the needs of a person’s disability.

Discount on alternative schemes

If you want to ask about alternative schemes, the second and any later scheme submitted with the main proposal will cost 30% of the full pre-application fee.