I still receive many phone enquiries asking for a ‘permitted development’ extension. It quickly becomes clear that the caller has the impression that only extensions of a certain size will be permitted by the planners. I explain that the expression only means development that may not need a full planning application. Generally a PD application (Certificate of Lawful Development) can take as long as a full application. If the whole building is properly evaluated and a proposal well designed tbis will generally result in a better scheme overall and planning permission will not be a problem.