Builders in Steyning

Steyning is about thirteen miles south of us, at the foot of the downs. It has one of the more substantial historic centres in the district, and it sits right against the South Downs National Park boundary — so both designations are live questions here rather than one.

Two things to establish, in this order

First: which authority decides. Where a property falls inside the National Park, the South Downs National Park Authority determines the application, not Horsham District Council. Different portal, different local plan, different pre-application service. The boundary follows landscape rather than parish lines, so it has to be checked against the actual address.

Second: whether you are in the conservation area. Steyning Conservation Area covers a large part of the older village. It is a separate question from the Park boundary, and you can be in one, both, or neither.

What either designation removes

Both the National Park and a conservation area are article 2(3) land, and the effect on permitted development is the same:

• No side extensions
• No two-storey rear extensions
• No permitted development loft conversions — Class B unavailable entirely
• No cladding
• No larger home extension scheme — rear extensions capped at 4 metres detached, 3 metres otherwise

Inside the conservation area, permission is additionally required for altering windows and external doors, solar panels, outbuildings, and fences or walls facing a highway. Trees with a trunk over 75mm at 1.5 metres are protected, with six weeks’ notice required and free applications.

Older buildings, and what they actually need

Steyning’s historic core includes a significant number of older and listed buildings. Two things worth saying plainly:

Listed building consent is a separate consent. It is not the same as planning permission, it is needed for internal work as well as external, and carrying out unauthorised work to a listed building is a criminal offence regardless of whether planning permission was needed. If your property is listed, that consent governs almost everything.

Older construction wants appropriate materials. Solid walls, lime mortar, breathable finishes. Sealing an older building up with modern impermeable materials traps moisture in the fabric and causes damage over time. That is a building question rather than a planning one, but it is where the money goes wrong on period property.

Where to start

Check the address against both the National Park boundary and the conservation area boundary, and establish whether the building is listed. Those three facts determine the whole route.

If it is complicated — and in Steyning it often is — pre-application advice is worth paying for before anyone draws anything. More on which authority decides.