The short answer
Inside Exmoor National Park the planning decisions are made by Exmoor National Park Authority alone, so questions about roof work go there and not to Somerset Council. The Park counts as article 2(3) land, which rules out permitted development dormers. Listed building consent in the Park is also the Authority's decision, and building control for Somerset addresses is Somerset Building Control's.
A house just inside the Park boundary and one just outside can have different planning offices. Before any roof work, find out which side of that line you stand.
One authority for the whole Park
Under section 4A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, inserted in 1995, the authority for each National Park is the one and only local planning authority across the Park. On Exmoor that body is Exmoor National Park Authority, known as ENPA. A planning enquiry about a roof in a Park village is therefore an ENPA matter and not one for the planning team at Somerset Council.
Why does it matter which side of the line a roof is on?
The planning authority decides applications, answers permitted development questions and chases breaches. ENPA states that it is responsible for investigating potential breaches of planning and listed building control inside the Park. Ask the wrong council and you may get an answer that does not fit your address, or send an application to an office with no power to decide it.
Some Exmoor addresses are in Devon rather than Somerset, which changes the building control answer further down this page but not the planning answer. Compare your address with the Authority's boundary information before asking anyone about a roof, and have the reply sent in writing so your roofer can see it.
Re-roofing and permitted development in the Park
Much like-for-like re-roofing never becomes a planning matter. Roof alterations to a house fall under Class C of the permitted development order, which normally takes in a straight change of covering. Under section 55, work that does not materially change how the outside looks is not development.
What does Park status take away?
It removes some rights. The Park is article 2(3) land, and on that land Class B, the dormer class, is closed, so there are no permitted development dormers. Class C has no matching restriction, so a roof window within its limits can still go in unless an Article 4 direction or a planning condition has withdrawn the right.
The limits on a roof window are a projection of no more than 0.15 metres from the slope and, on a side slope, obscure glass. Flats have none of this, as the order's meaning of dwellinghouse leaves out a building containing flats. If the material is changing, say from slate to something else, put the question to ENPA before ordering anything. Photos of the roof, the ridge and any lead help its officers see what is proposed.
Listed houses and church roofs inside the Park
Many older Exmoor buildings are listed. A listed house keeps Classes B and C on paper, yet any change to its special character needs listed building consent, and inside the Park ENPA gives it.
Can a chapel or church roof follow the same route?
It depends on the building and the denomination. Anglican churches still in use are handled by the faculty system. Four other cases sit outside that route: United Reformed, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches in use, plus Baptist buildings that a Schedule 1 trust corporation holds, each using the denomination's own approval process. A Quaker or Unitarian meeting house, a church that has closed, and a chapel turned into a home all fall back on listed building consent, with ENPA deciding. Scheduled monument consent for a scheduled monument comes from the Secretary of State, never from the council.
For a listed roof the covering usually matters to the decision, so an application should say exactly what is going back on. Our answer on consent for listed building roof work goes into more detail, and dormers in the Quantocks and Blackdowns covers the neighbouring National Landscapes, which follow the same dormer rule.
Building control, and where we fit in
Planning and building control are two separate systems. The Park Authority holds the first and not the second. A Somerset address inside Exmoor goes to Somerset Building Control, because its footprint includes the former Taunton and West area. A Devon address inside the Park goes to the district council's building control team.
How do the two fit together on one job?
Staying under the Planning Portal limits (under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof) usually means a re-roof needs no building control application. A covering 15 per cent heavier or more does. Where both apply, planning and Building Regulations run side by side, each with its own forms and its own officer.
For an Exmoor roof the survey comes first, with photos of your own slope and its details, then a single written price. Anything needing consent is flagged before you agree to the price, so the application can go in at the right time. Start from our homepage to send photos, or read our building control page for the Somerset team's contact details.
More on Exmoor roof planning
Is a holiday cottage roof treated differently?
Class C is about a dwellinghouse, and a block of flats is outside that meaning. A holiday cottage that is a single house counts as a dwellinghouse, but other uses may not. With the Park planned by ENPA alone, ask the Authority before assuming permitted development applies to anything that is not a plain house.
Can Somerset Council tell me if my Exmoor roof needs consent?
Not on planning inside the Park. ENPA is the only planning authority there, and listed building consent goes to it as well. Somerset Council's planning team can still help if your address turns out to lie outside the boundary, which is why checking the line comes first.
The full picture: Roofers in Taunton ยท More short answers