Planning permission for heat pumps?

“Do I really need Planning Permission to fit a heat pump?”

Well if you have an average type of house in a suburban area, then probably no you don’t. But I keep hearing and reading claims that you do need PP so I had a brief look into the subject.

There are government regulations controlling the installation of heat pumps, here:
https://www.westminster.gov.uk/planning-building-and-environmental-regulations/planning-and-climate-emergency-guidance-householders/heat-pumps

Put loosely and broadly, heat pumps fall under “Permitted Development”, and Planning Permission is usually not needed on small installations where the outside unit is a single fan unit installed more than 1m from a boundary, and not on a roof or fronting onto a highway. The outside unit MUST be small though, less than 0.6 cubic metres in volume. Once your heat pump outside unit gets large, noisy, close to your property boundary or fitted above ground level, you’ll probably need Planning Permission.

Further restrictions apply in a conservation area and PP is always required for an air source HP on a listed building, but full details are explained on the government web page link above.