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Building Compliance in Portsmouth

Portsmouth City Council handles the city’s planning services, while building control operates through a partnership. For landlords, conversion projects and new development, the first task is to separate planning evidence, licensing checks and construction-stage calculations. National Building Compliance arranges assessors for these different stages, rather than treating one report as approval for everything.

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Services in Portsmouth

Portsmouth HMOs: two permissions to check

Portsmouth’s HMO list guidance, updated in October 2026, describes citywide additional licensing for homes with three or four people forming two or more households. It began on 1 September 2023 and includes shared houses and bedsits with shared amenities. The same page identifies mandatory licensing for larger HMOs with five or more occupiers, regardless of storeys. Check occupancy and household arrangements before deciding which route applies.

The council also confirms a citywide Article 4 direction and warns that an HMO can hold a licence without having planning permission, or the reverse. Its HMO guidance therefore matters when buying an existing shared house as much as when proposing a conversion. Ask for evidence of both statuses. A property’s appearance on a licensing record should not be treated as proof of a lawful planning use.

For a Portsmouth HMO, organise the safety work around the actual layout and occupation described in the application. We can arrange fire risk assessments, EPCs and legionella risk assessments where relevant. These are separate technical services, not substitutes for either council decision. The council’s register explanation also says applications in progress do not appear until a licence has been issued, so absence from the list needs investigation rather than an assumption.

PCS15 and the Portsmouth Plan evidence trail

The Portsmouth Plan was adopted on 24 January 2012. Policy PCS15 addresses sustainable design and construction, including residential development, conversions and non-domestic buildings. The council still identifies the plan as its principal planning policy document on its adopted plan page. For a conversion, establish which part of PCS15 the proposal falls under before commissioning an assessment intended for a different development type.

There is an important qualification to the older policy wording. The council’s sustainable design guidance page points to a Housing Standards Review briefing about the Ministerial Statement of 25 March 2015 and how it affects PCS15, PCS19 and the associated SPDs. Do not lift the original Code for Sustainable Homes timetable into a present-day specification. Confirm the applicable standard with the planning officer before fixing the assessment scope.

The Sustainable Design and Construction SPD explains what evidence developers should provide and when assessments should happen. Use an energy statement to explain the proposed energy approach and a sustainability statement to bring the wider design response together where required. Keep their assumptions consistent with the drawings. These reports should explain the agreed policy response, not simply reproduce superseded rating targets from an older document.

Portsmouth’s July 2024 validation list

Portsmouth’s validation requirements say the Local List was adopted on 23 July 2024 and that missing mandatory documents will make an application invalid. For additional dwellings and proposals that alter or provide an HMO, floor plans must show the internal accommodation and room layouts, with a schedule of gross internal floor areas. Give assessors the same plans submitted to planning so their calculations do not describe a different scheme.

The same local list calls for air quality information for development inside or adjacent to an air quality management area, and in other specified circumstances involving air quality impacts or action plans. That is not a blanket demand for an overheating report. Where the site needs an air quality assessment, agree how its findings affect ventilation design before commissioning overheating assessments. Assumptions about opening windows need to remain compatible with the proposed environmental strategy.

Portsmouth building control through the partnership

The council states that Portsmouth’s Building Control Service is carried out by The Building Control Partnership, serving Portsmouth, Gosport and Fareham. It also says building regulations approval is separate from planning permission. Send the partnership the construction evidence relevant to its review, rather than assuming that acceptance of a planning statement confirms compliance with the Building Regulations.

The council’s service description includes energy conservation and fire safety among the matters covered by building regulations. For Portsmouth housing projects, coordinate SAP calculations with the fabric, heating and ventilation specification; for relevant non-domestic work, use SBEM calculations. Agree the required completion evidence before booking air tightness testing or sound insulation testing, so the testing scope follows the approved design and project requirements.

Portsmouth heritage constraints on fabric changes

Portsmouth’s validation list requires a proportionate heritage statement for sites in conservation areas, listed buildings and specified cases affecting heritage assets or their settings. It also asks for architectural details for listed building consent applications. If insulation or replacement windows form part of the energy strategy, identify the heritage constraints before relying on those changes in the calculations. U-value calculations can compare proposed fabric build-ups, but cannot establish whether a heritage alteration is acceptable.

Building compliance questions in Portsmouth

Does a Portsmouth HMO licence prove planning permission exists?

No. The council’s HMO guidance explicitly separates the two processes and says either status can exist without the other. Check both before committing to an HMO purchase or conversion.

Who provides Portsmouth’s council building control service?

The council names The Building Control Partnership as its provider. It serves Portsmouth, Gosport and Fareham, while planning remains a separate approval route.

Should a Portsmouth energy report repeat the original PCS15 targets?

Not without checking the applicable requirements. The council’s sustainable design page flags a Housing Standards Review briefing affecting PCS15 and PCS19. Agree the current policy interpretation before specifying the report.

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