No more and no less than any other roof window, because planning has nothing to say about brands. What is assessed is how far the unit projects beyond the roof plane, whether it sits above the ridge, which elevation it faces, and whether the property sits in a designated area or is listed. The manufacturer is irrelevant to every one of those tests.
The tests themselves
Set out in full, with the projection and ridge limits, on do roof windows need planning permission.
They apply to any roof window on any roof, and this page covers only what is particular to specifying a branded unit against them.
Why people ask about the brand
Because it is the name most often used for the product.
A planning officer, a neighbour or an estate agent will say VELUX when they mean roof window, and it can look as though a particular product is being treated differently.
It is not, and the paperwork never names a manufacturer.
What is actually assessed
Projection, position and elevation. How far the unit stands proud of the plane of the roof, whether any part sits higher than the highest part of the existing roof, and which way it faces.
A standard roof window meets the first two comfortably.
Why standard units usually pass
Because they are designed to sit in the plane.
A roof window is fitted between the rafters with the frame at the covering line, so the projection is the depth of the frame and the flashing rather than a raised structure.
That is the opposite of a lantern or a raised dome.
A recessed installation
Where the projection reduces further. A recessed kit sets the frame deeper so the glass sits closer to the covering line, which reduces the projection to very little indeed.
What that involves is on what is a VELUX recessed installation.
Conservation areas
Where the answer changes, and it changes for the elevation rather than the product.
Rooflights on a front or otherwise principal slope are commonly the point at issue, and the position varies between authorities across our area.
The general position is on do I need permission for a rooflight in a conservation area.
A conservation kit on a standard window
The specification that sometimes satisfies an officer.
A recessed flashing kit sets a standard unit low into the covering, which reads far more flatly from the street than a surface mounted one.
Whether it is accepted in a particular conservation area is a conversation with that authority rather than a rule.
Where a true conservation rooflight is wanted instead
A different product with a different appearance.
A steel framed conservation rooflight with a central bar is what some authorities look for on a visible historic slope, and it is not the same thing as a recessed standard unit.
That product is on the conservation rooflight installation page.
Listed buildings
A separate consent, and it is not optional.
Listed building consent is required for works affecting the character of a listed building whatever permitted development would otherwise allow, and a roof window on a listed roof engages it.
What that involves is on do I need listed building consent for a rooflight.
The National Park
Relevant across a large part of our area.
The South Downs National Park is its own planning authority and permitted development rights are restricted within it, so the answer differs from a Worthing suburb a few miles away.
Which authority applies is on who is the planning authority in the South Downs National Park.
Article 4 directions
The thing worth checking rather than assuming.
An authority can remove permitted development rights over a defined area by direction, which changes the answer for every house within it regardless of what the general rules say.
A flat above a shop or a maisonette
Where the rights are different in kind.
Permitted development for roof alterations applies to houses, and a flat or maisonette does not have the same rights, so an application is generally needed.
Building regulations are separate
Worth separating, because people conflate the two.
Planning is about appearance and amenity. Building regulations are about structure, thermal performance and safety, and they can apply where planning does not.
Those are on do roof windows need building regulations.
Where a neighbour is the concern rather than the council
A real question, and it is not a planning one.
Overlooking from a roof window is usually less of an issue than from a wall window, because the sight line from a sloping pane is upward and outward rather than across a garden.
Where a slope does look into a neighbouring property, obscured glazing settles it without any application.
Retrospective applications
Possible, and best avoided.
Where a window has gone in without a consent that was needed, an application can be made after the fact, and the authority considers it on its merits like any other.
What follows if it is refused is on what happens if I fit a rooflight without consent.
How long a decision takes
Weeks rather than days, and it is worth building into a programme.
A householder application runs to a statutory period, and a listed building consent generally runs longer, so an installation date is set after a decision rather than in hope of one.
What we check on a VELUX
We check the designation and the elevation before we specify anything, because on a designated slope the product decision follows the planning position rather than the other way round.
The rest is on the VELUX window installation page.
Thinking about this job? We survey across Worthing, West Sussex and the South Downs and give you a fixed price before any work starts, with a 10-year workmanship guarantee.