Guides · Updated 16 Oct 2026
Guides to extensions, walls, fences and insurance repairs
Six plain guides with the official sources for every rule they state, plus a glossary of building, brickwork and fencing terms. General information: check with your council for your own house.
Read before you build
- Wrap-around extensions: what they are, the rules and how one is builtA wrap-around extension runs along the side of a house and across the back as one joined space.
- Do you need planning permission for an extension?Many extensions can be built under permitted development, without a planning application, as long as they stay inside set limits.
- The Party Wall Act: when it applies and what to doIf you are building on or near the boundary with a neighbour, or digging footings close to their house, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply.
- How high can a garden wall or fence be?Most garden walls and fences need no planning permission if they stay under set heights.
- Building insurance repairs: what to expectWhen a house is damaged by fire, flood, a storm or a vehicle, the repair usually runs through the insurer.
- Close-board fencing: what it is and how it goes inClose-board fencing is overlapping feather-edge boards between posts, with a board along the bottom.
- Building, brickwork and fencing terms explained64 terms, from footings to party walls.
Talk to Liam about the job
Call or WhatsApp 07805 010927, or send the quote form. Photos of the job help: send them on WhatsApp.