The short answer
It depends on the building. Under planning law, works that do not alter how the outside of a building looks are not development. Taking a chimney off the roof can change that look. A listed building needs listed building consent. A conservation area, Exmoor or an Article 4 direction call for a check with the planning team first.
Taking a chimney down is not one rule for every house, so the first step is to work out which of four situations yours falls into.
The appearance test in section 55
The test comes from the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 55(2)(a): a change that leaves the outside appearance materially unaltered is not development, and development is what needs permission. For a chimney, the question is whether losing the stack alters the look of the building from outside enough to matter.
Does removing a chimney change the appearance?
A stack at the front of a terrace, or one that gives a gable its outline, forms part of the street scene. A small stack on a rear slope, out of view, is a different case. The council judges each on its facts, and we cannot decide for you. Removing the stack above the roof is one job. Taking out the breast below it, inside the house, is another.
Do not assume that permitted development settles it. Ask the planning team at Somerset Council in writing, send your address and some photos, and keep whatever reply comes back.
This is general guidance, not legal advice, and every address is a separate case.
Conservation areas, Article 4 and Exmoor
Where a house stands matters as much as what is being done to it. Taunton has several conservation areas, among them South Road, which Somerset Council's table dates to 15 January 1975. Another lies around Mount Street and Vivary Park, and Wellington is designated too.
Does living in one change the answer?
It makes a check more important. A conservation area is Article 2(3) land, where some permitted development rights are cut back, and the council looks harder at changes that alter the street. Roof features such as chimneys are part of that picture.
An Article 4 direction can also strip chosen permitted development rights from a set area. Somerset Council's list names directions for Staplegrove Road in Taunton, and for Wellington, Milverton and Kingston St Mary. Ask the planning team what each one covers, and do not assume anything.
On Exmoor, planning decisions rest with Exmoor National Park Authority and not with Somerset Council, and listed building consent goes to the same body. Check the Park boundary against your address before you apply, because a village can sit either side of the line.
Listed homes and Building Regulations
Before any work that changes a listed building's special character, the owner needs listed building consent. Under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 7, altering or demolishing a listed building in a way that affects it is barred unless authorised. A stack is often part of what the listing protects. A listed house keeps its permitted development rights under Class C, but still needs consent for this sort of work.
What about Building Regulations?
In the Planning Portal's words, Building Regulations approval will always apply to chimney breast removal, since the breast belongs to the structure of the building. Somerset Building Control, on 0300 303 7790, can say how that applies to your case. Taking the stack off above the roof alone is a different job from taking out the breast, though both touch the structure.
Our guide to listed building consent for chimneys goes through the listed case in more detail, and another covers chimney breast removal inside the house. Churches and chapels follow their own routes, so owners of those should check the route for their denomination before booking any work.
Neighbours and next steps
If the chimney sits on a party wall, the wall shared with the house next door, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 comes into play too. GOV.UK counts a chimney removed from a party wall as notifiable work. Your neighbour has to receive a notice two months before you begin, and silence from them does not mean they agree. Party wall questions go to a party wall surveyor, not to building control.
What should I do first?
Decide which job you mean: taking the stack to roof level, taking out the breast, or both. Next, find out whether the house is listed, sits in a conservation area or lies inside a protected landscape, and send the planning team your question along with street-view photos of the stack.
Weigh up the alternatives as well, because removal is not the only way to deal with a stack that has given trouble. A stack with a failing top can sometimes be repaired, rebuilt lower or capped instead; the page on chimney stack removal looks at the choice.
Once you know the consent route, we survey the stack, show you photos and write the job up as one price. If you want to see the other work that stacks need, the chimney repairs page lists it.
More on consent for chimney work
Do I need permission to take off just the pot?
Removing a pot and capping the flue is a smaller change than taking away the stack, yet on a listed building it can still alter the character. In a conservation area, ask the planning team first. Swapping a pot like for like is closer to a repair, though a listed house may still call for a word with the planning team.
Which authority handles a chimney in Exmoor?
Inside the Park, Exmoor National Park Authority acts as planning authority, and it handles listed building consent there too. For Building Regulations at a Somerset address within its boundary, ring Somerset Building Control. Check the boundary on the Authority's website before sending anything.
The full picture: Chimney repairs in Taunton ยท More short answers