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GPDO Article 3: how permitted development is granted
This page explains Article 3 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015. It is the provision which grants the planning permission behind the permitted development rights in Schedule 2.
Article 3 is the legal engine of the English GPDO. A Class in Schedule 2 describes the development which may be permitted, but the planning permission itself is granted by Article 3.
That distinction matters because satisfying the wording of a Class is not always enough. Article 3 also contains wider restrictions which can prevent a Schedule 2 right from being used.
Need help with permitted development?
Permitted development can avoid a full planning application, but only if the right applies and every relevant limit and condition is met. Planning Geek can check the planning history, Article 4 directions and other restrictions, and help with a lawful development certificate or prior approval where needed.
GPDO Article 3: the permission behind Schedule 2
Article 3(1) grants planning permission for the classes of development described as permitted development in Schedule 2. Article 3(2) immediately qualifies that permission: every relevant exception, limitation and condition in Schedule 2 still has to be satisfied.
Article 3(3) explains the drafting. When a Part or Class refers to permission granted by Schedule 2, it is referring back to the permission granted by Article 3.
So the practical question is not simply “does my proposal look like Class A?” It is whether the proposal falls within the Class, complies with its limits and conditions, and is not stopped by one of the wider Article 3 rules.
Article 3(4): an existing planning condition can block the right
Article 3(4) says the GPDO does not permit development which would be contrary to a condition imposed by a planning permission granted or deemed to be granted under Part 3 or Part 13 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, otherwise than by the GPDO itself.
This is why the planning history matters. A house or commercial site may appear to have a permitted development right, but an earlier permission may contain a condition which removes or restricts it.
That is different from an Article 4 direction. An Article 4 direction removes rights through the GPDO itself; Article 3(4) is about the effect of a condition attached to a particular planning permission.
Article 3(5): the building or use relied upon must be lawful
Where a permitted development right depends on an existing building, Article 3(5) prevents reliance on the right if the building operations involved in constructing that building are unlawful. The same applies where the right depends on an existing use and that use is unlawful.
This is more precise than saying that any planning irregularity on a site automatically removes all permitted development rights. The important question is whether the particular building or use on which the right depends is lawful.
If lawfulness is uncertain, a lawful development certificate may be worth considering before relying on the GPDO.
Article 3(6): highways and dangerous visibility
Subject to stated exceptions, Article 3 does not authorise development which requires the formation, laying out or material widening of an access to a trunk road or classified road.
It also prevents reliance on the GPDO where development would obstruct the view of people using a highway used by vehicular traffic in a way likely to cause danger.
This is a safety test rather than a general ban on development near a road.
Article 3(7) to (9): other general restrictions
Article 3 contains several more specialised controls:
- Article 3(7) deals with certain Part 18 development authorised by another Act or order where a separate consent or approval is still needed
- Article 3(8) restricts notifiable pipelines, subject to the stated gas transporter exception
- Article 3(9) says Schedule 2 does not generally permit development requiring or involving demolition of a building, except through Classes B and C of Part 11. For this paragraph only, “building” does not include part of a building
Article 3(9A) and (9B): minimum space standards for new homes
The GPDO cannot authorise a new dwellinghouse with a gross internal floor area below 37 square metres. It must also comply with the nationally described space standard, read with the notes dated 19th May 2016.
This is an Article-wide restriction, not merely a condition within one particular residential conversion Class. Our nationally described space standard guide explains the wider space requirements.
Article 3(10) to (12): Environmental Impact Assessment
Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 development within the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2017 cannot normally rely on the GPDO unless the required screening process establishes that it is not EIA development, or one of the stated exemptions applies.
Article 3(12) contains specific exceptions for particular infrastructure and statutory development. Those exceptions need to be checked against the exact Class being relied upon.
Habitats Regulations can still stop development proceeding
Article 3(1) is expressly subject to regulations 75 to 78 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. A permitted development right is therefore not a way around the Habitats Regulations.
If development could affect a protected European site, the Habitats Regulations process may need to be dealt with before development can lawfully begin.
Article 3(13): electronic applications
Where an application required by Schedule 2 is made electronically, the applicant is treated as agreeing to electronic communications for matters relating to that application, subject to the revocation mechanism in paragraph (13).
Article 3 legislation
The complete current wording is retained below for planning officers and anyone who needs the statutory text. You can also check Article 3 on legislation.gov.uk.
Article 3 legislation
Permitted development
3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Order and regulations 75 to 78 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (general development orders), planning permission is hereby granted for the classes of development described as permitted development in Schedule 2.
(2) Any permission granted by paragraph (1) is subject to any relevant exception, limitation or condition specified in Schedule 2.
(3) References in this Order to permission granted by Schedule 2 or by any Part, Class or paragraph of that Schedule are references to the permission granted by this article in relation to development described in that Schedule or that provision of that Schedule.
(4) Nothing in this Order permits development contrary to any condition imposed by any planning permission granted or deemed to be granted under Part 3 or Part 13 of the Act otherwise than by this Order.
(5) The permission granted by Schedule 2 does not apply if—
(a) in the case of permission granted in connection with an existing building, the building operations involved in the construction of that building are unlawful;
(b) in the case of permission granted in connection with an existing use, that use is unlawful.
(6) The permission granted by Schedule 2 does not, except in relation to development permitted by Classes A, B, D and E of Part 9 and Class A of Part 18 of that Schedule, authorise any development which requires or involves the formation, laying out or material widening of a means of access to an existing highway which is a trunk road or classified road, or creates an obstruction to the view of persons using any highway used by vehicular traffic, so as to be likely to cause danger to such persons.
(7) Any development falling within Class A of Part 18 of Schedule 2 authorised by an Act or order subject to the grant of any consent or approval is not to be treated for the purposes of this Order as authorised unless and until that consent or approval is obtained, except where the Act was passed or the order made after 1st July 1948 and it contains provision to the contrary.
(8) Schedule 2 does not grant permission for the laying or construction of a notifiable pipe-line, except in the case of the laying or construction of a notifiable pipe-line by a gas transporter in accordance with Class A of Part 15 of that Schedule.
(9) Except as provided in Classes B and C of Part 11, Schedule 2 does not permit any development which requires or involves the demolition of a building, but in this paragraph “building” does not include part of a building.
(9A) Schedule 2 does not grant permission for, or authorise any development of, any new dwellinghouse—
(a) where the gross internal floor area is less than 37 square metres in size; or
(b) that does not comply with the nationally described space standard issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 27th March 2015.
(9B) The reference in paragraph (9A) to the nationally described space standard is to that standard read together with the notes dated 19th May 2016 which apply to it.
(10) Subject to paragraph (12), Schedule 1 development or Schedule 2 development within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (“the EIA Regulations”) is not permitted by this Order unless—
(a) the local planning authority has adopted a screening opinion under regulation 6 of those Regulations that the development is not EIA development within the meaning of those Regulations;
(b) the Secretary of State has made a screening direction under regulation 5(3) of those Regulations that the development is not EIA development within the meaning of those Regulations; or
(c) the Secretary of State has given a direction under regulation 63(1) of those Regulations that the development is exempted from the application of those Regulations.
(11) Where—
(a) the local planning authority has adopted a screening opinion under regulation 6 of the EIA Regulations that development is EIA development within the meaning of those Regulations and the Secretary of State has in relation to that development neither made a screening direction to the contrary under regulation 5(3) of those Regulations nor directed under regulation 63(1) of those Regulations that the development is exempted from the application of those Regulations; or
(b) the Secretary of State has directed that development is EIA development within the meaning of those Regulations,
that development is treated, for the purposes of paragraph (10), as development which is not permitted by this Order.
(12) Paragraph (10) does not apply to—
(a) development which consists of the carrying out by a drainage body, within the meaning of the Land Drainage Act 1991, of improvement works within the meaning of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Land Drainage Improvement Works) Regulations 1999;
(b) development for which permission is granted by Class E of Part 6, Class K of Part 7, Class B of Part 12, Class A(a) of Part 15, Class D, E or I of Part 17 or Class A of Part 18 of Schedule 2;
(c) development for which permission is granted by Class F, H or K of Part 17 of Schedule 2 where the land in, on or under which the development is to be carried out is—
(i) in the case of Class F of Part 17, on the same authorised site,
(ii) in the case of Class H of Part 17, on the same premises or, as the case may be, the same ancillary mining land,
(iii) in the case of Class K of Part 17, on the same land or, as the case may be, on land adjoining that land,
as that in, on or under which development of any description permitted by the same Class has been carried out before 14th March 1999;
(d) the completion of any development begun before 14th March 1999;
(e) development for which permission is granted by Class B of Part 9 of Schedule 2.
(13) Where a person uses electronic communications for making any application required to be made under any Part of Schedule 2, that person is taken to have agreed—
(a) to the use of electronic communications for all purposes relating to that person’s application which are capable of being effected using such communications;
(b) that the address for the purpose of such communications is the address incorporated into, or otherwise logically associated with, that person’s application; and
(c) that the deemed agreement under this paragraph subsists until that person gives notice in writing revoking the agreement (and such revocation is final and takes effect on a date specified by the person but not less than 7 days after the date on which the notice is given).
Other GPDO Articles
The Articles are the framework for the General Permitted Development Order in England. Use the links below to move between the Articles or return to the main permitted development section.
GPDO Article 3 updated: 24th September 2026