Do you need permission to remove a chimney stack?

1The breast and the stack are treated differently

People say "remove the chimney" and mean two things. The chimney breast is the part inside the house, the projection of brick that carries the flues up through the rooms. The stack is the part that rises above the roof. They are connected, but the rules do not treat them the same way.

The Planning Portal's guidance is plain on the first: building regulations approval will always apply when removing chimney breasts, since the breast helps carry the house. For the stack above the roof the answer is less fixed, and different rules can come into play.

So the first question to settle is which part you are removing, because many homeowners take out the breast in the rooms and leave the stack, or take down the stack only when it has become unsafe.

2Building Regulations and who signs it off

Building control looks at what holds up the floors, ceilings and roof once the support has gone. Taking out a breast usually means the brickwork above is carried on a steel beam or other support, and that needs to be designed, installed and inspected. The same applies if the stack is taken down and the roof structure around it has to be reformed.

You can use the council's building control team or a registered building control approver, the title private firms have carried since 6 April 2024. Adur and Worthing councils work together from one office at Worthing Town Hall. It has said it can no longer offer design advice, so a structural engineer is the right person to ask about the beam, and the engineer's calculations go with the application.

Inspections are booked at set stages, and the owner is responsible for telling building control when each stage is reached. For the roof side of the job, where the work is notifiable, the notification is something we deal with and explain to you.

Keep the completion certificate safe for the day you sell.

3Party walls and your neighbour

In a semi-detached house or a terrace, the chimney is often built into the wall you share. GOV.UK lists removing chimneys from a party wall as notifiable work. Notice must reach next door between 2 months and a year before the start, and a neighbour who stays quiet has not agreed.

That timescale catches people out. A job planned for next month may have to wait while the notice period runs. If the neighbour objects, a surveyor process follows, and it is much slower and dearer than a friendly conversation at the start.

Shared stacks raise another question, namely who pays and who does what. Both houses are affected, so talk to the neighbour before you order anything, and keep every agreement in writing.

4Planning, listed buildings and Article 4 areas

Repairs that restore the existing look rarely call for a planning application, yet taking a chimney away changes how the building looks and so brings other rules in. Listed building consent is needed where work would damage what makes a listed house special, and a chimney is often a big part of that.

Some conservation areas in Adur and Worthing have Article 4 directions that remove ordinary permitted development rights. In Old Shoreham and Kingston Buci, a planning application is needed before a chimney or flue is put up, changed or swapped, wherever it stands on the house. In the Warwick Gardens area of Worthing, taking a chimney down is among the listed matters too.

Outside those areas, the position can differ again, and the council's planning team can tell you for your address. Ask before ordering anything, and keep the reply, because a missing consent shows up when you come to sell.

5What the roofer does, and what to ask first

Once the approvals are in place, the roofing work is straightforward in principle: the stack is taken down to a set level, the roof timbers and covering are made good, and the lead and any tiles around the old stack are renewed or closed in. Done well, you cannot see where it stood. Our chimney repairs page lists the other stack work that is often done on the same visit.

The costs that move the price are scaffold, how much of the stack is removed, and the roof covering around it. After the survey you get the quote in writing as a single sum, with photographs of the stack and the roof round it. If the problem you are trying to solve is damp, read damp on the chimney breast first, as the cause may be a repair and not a removal. If the stack is leaning, a leaning chimney has its own safety checks. A sweep or a roofer can help you decide which; see chimney sweep or roofer.