Guide
Shop sign planning permission: deemed consent vs express consent
Updated
Most signage pages say 'you may need permission, check with your council'. Here is the actual rule, with the limits your sign has to sit inside to avoid an application.
The system in one paragraph
Outdoor advertisements in England are controlled by the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. Government planning practice guidance explains that advertisements 'are controlled with reference to their effect on amenity and public safety only, so the regime is lighter touch than the system for obtaining planning permission for development' (gov.uk planning practice guidance). There are three categories: advertisements permitted without any consent (Schedule 1), advertisements with deemed consent if they meet the conditions of a class in Schedule 3, and everything else, which needs express consent applied for from the local planning authority.
These Regulations apply in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own advertisement control regimes with different classes and limits. Check the rules for your nation before relying on anything on this page.
The two classes that cover most shop signs
A shop sign advertising the business carried on, the goods sold or services provided, or the name or qualifications of the person carrying on the business at those premises will normally be looking at Class 4B (illuminated) or Class 5 (not illuminated) of Schedule 3.
| Condition | Class 4B, illuminated | Class 5, not illuminated |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area, AONB, National Park or the Broads | No deemed consent at all | Deemed consent still available |
| Which wall | On a shop, only a wall containing a shop window | On a shop, only a wall containing a shop window |
| How many | One parallel to the wall and one projecting at right angles | Not limited by number, but each is subject to the size limits |
| Maximum area | Surface may not exceed one-sixth of the frontage measured to 4.6 m, or one-fifth measured to the top of the sign, whichever is less | No single advertisement may exceed 1.55 square metres |
| Projecting sign | Surface not more than 0.75 sq m, not projecting more than 1 m from the wall or two thirds of the footway width, whichever is less, not more than 1 m high, and not over a carriageway | Not applicable |
| Height limits | Lowest part at least 2.5 m above ground; no part higher than 4.6 m or the bottom of any first floor window, whichever is lower | No part higher than 4.6 m, or 3.6 m in an area of special control, or the bottom of any first floor window, whichever is lower |
| Character height | No character or symbol more than 0.75 m high | No character or symbol more than 0.75 m high, or 0.3 m in an area of special control |
| Illumination | Static means only; no intermittent light source, flashing lights, moving parts or features, exposed cold cathode tubing, animation or retroflective material. Halo illumination, or internal illumination of each character with no illuminated background | Not permitted, except for premises providing human health or veterinary services or supplies |
| Built-up box depth | Maximum 0.25 m between the face and the wall, or between two faces of a projecting sign | Not applicable |
Those conditions are quoted from Schedule 3 to the Regulations. Miss any one of them and the sign falls out of deemed consent and needs express consent, which is an application, a fee and a wait, not a refusal.
The conservation area trap
This is the single most commonly missed rule in shop signage, and it is worth reading twice. Class 4B says plainly: 'no advertisement is permitted within a conservation area, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a National Park or the Broads'. So an illuminated shop sign in a conservation area has no deemed consent, whatever its size. It needs express consent.
A non-illuminated sign in the same conservation area may still have deemed consent under Class 5, subject to that class's size and height limits. That asymmetry is why a design change from an internally lit tray to a painted panel with discreet external lighting is sometimes the difference between opening on time and waiting on an application. It is also why 'do we need permission?' cannot be answered without knowing whether the sign lights up.
Listed buildings are a different consent again
Advertisement consent and listed building consent are separate regimes. The government's guidance is explicit that 'even if express consent is not required, all advertisements must comply with any other relevant statutory provisions', and that for signage on a building on the statutory list, 'listed building consent is likely to be required'. Listed building consent asks a different question: not whether the sign harms general amenity, but whether the works affect the building's special architectural or historic interest.
- Assume the fixings are the issue. Conservation officers care as much about drilling into historic fabric as about the design, so a fixing detail into mortar joints rather than stone often unlocks a scheme.
- Expect a design conversation. Hand-painted or applied individual letters, and external lighting rather than internal, are frequently what gets approved on a listed frontage.
- Two applications, one design. Where both consents are needed, submit them together so the officers see the same scheme.
- Pre-application advice is worth the fee. An hour with the conservation officer before the sign is manufactured is cheaper than remaking it.
What express consent involves
- You apply to the local planning authority for the area where the sign will be displayed.
- Consent usually lasts 5 years, though the authority has discretion to grant a longer or shorter period. Unless a condition requires removal when consent expires, the sign may normally continue to be displayed without a fresh application.
- Authorities can also restrict deemed consent in a defined area, issue a discontinuance notice on an existing sign, or designate an area of special control, which applies reduced size limits to some deemed consent classes.
- Even where a sign has deemed consent, government guidance states it is illegal to display any advertisement without first obtaining the permission of the owner of the site, or anyone else entitled to give it. If you lease the shop, that means your landlord.
What happens if you just put it up
Displaying an advertisement without the consent it needs is an offence under section 224 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The government's guidance sets out the penalty: 'The penalty on conviction for the offence is at level 4 on the standard scale (current maximum £2,500) and in the case of a continuing offence a further daily fine of up to a maximum of one tenth of that amount (£250) until the contravention ends.'
In practice the more common outcome is a letter asking you to remove or regularise the sign, but the cost that hurts is the one you already paid: a manufactured, installed sign that has to come down.
A-boards and pavement signs
Worth knowing because they are so common. Government guidance says 'A-boards' on highways, including footways, where vehicular traffic is prohibited will require express advertisement consent, and will also require the consent of the relevant council under highways legislation. Many councils now operate their own pavement licensing or street furniture policies on top, and some prohibit A-boards outright.
This page summarises the Regulations and the government's own planning practice guidance as at its updated date, with links to both. It is not legal or planning advice. Advertisement control is a local matter as well as a national one, so check your council's position, and any area of special control, before you commit to a design.