Planning permission to replace windows with French doors...

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We want to install French doors to replace a window in the front elevation of our house. The doors will be the same width as the existing window so the lintel won't be altered.

I believe we wouldn't need planning if this was the rear of the house (which is just as well as we're installing 5m bifold doors at the back too) but will we definitely need planning for a change to the front elevation? (Our house is ~30m from the front boundary of our land, if that makes a difference.)

The stressed-sounding chap on the council's advice line said we probably would need planning, but our structural engineer is convinced we don't. I tend to trust the council more than the engineer, but do any of you have any experience/knowledge you could share please? Thanks!

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Thanks for all the replies.

We know we need building regs approval and this will be handled by the structural engineer through the builder/principal contractor, apparently.

The advice on the Planning Portal website (as you linked, BaldOldMan) is spectacularly vague and I can't see anything in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 act that would say what we want to do needs permission. Equus and Hub you seem pretty clear in your assertion that we don't need planning, but since my great-grandfather told me never to trust internet strangers could you provide something authoritative to confirm the source of your authority please?

Equus, your point about raising the level of the ground outside these new doors is an interesting one. To avoid having a two-foot drop outside these new doors we do need to raise the ground level of a 2m x 2m flower bed by more than 300mm (to the house's damp-proof course and cover the area with paving. Common sense would have suggested that we could do this without triggering any attention if we weren't going to install doors, but you've got me worrying: am I wrong? (We had planned to soften the edge of this raised area with a stepped herbaceous border rather than a hard 450mm wall.)

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Equus said:

I run a Planning Consultancy, so I'm fairly sure of my ground, but like I said, if you're in any doubt, apply for a certificate of lawfulness, and get it straight from the horses mouth.

Ah right - that's pretty authoritative then! Thank you for contributing your professional skills in that case.

Equus said:

What are you finding vague about "You do not usually need to apply for planning permission for insertion of new windows and doors that are of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the house..."?

The French doors we plan to install will be "of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the house" in that they'll be white uPVC and in thirds just like the window above them, in an effort to make them look somewhat original. But I would hate to try and argue with a planning officer that a door is similar to a window!

Here's the window in question - behind the large bush in the centre of the photo:

Equus said:

I could point you at the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, but if you can't make sense of the guidance on the Planning Portal that has already been linked, it would make your brains dribble out of your ears trying to interpret it.

I've looked through it and can't find anything specific about replacing a window with a door, and since I'm not familiar with how the law works should I assume that if it's not specifically excluded from permitted development then it's included?

Equus said:

Raising the ground level as you describe is technically an 'engineering operation' under Planning, and does require Planning Permission, but up to you if you feel lucky.

Interesting - I'll do some more research. We may be able to start raising that ground in stages and hope nobody notices! Many thanks again for your input.