Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what planning requirements apply to the installation of telegraph poles outside homes.

Proposals for new telecommunications infrastructure require planning permission, either through nationally set permitted development rights or through a planning application to the local planning authority. In England, telecommunications operators are able to install new ground-based infrastructure such as telegraph poles and mobile masts under permitted development rights, subject to various size limits. These rights are subject to a prior approval process (except for infrastructure relating to fixed-line broadband) under which the local planning authority can consider the proposed siting and appearance of the infrastructure. Infrastructure not covered by permitted development rights will require full planning permission, and are assessed against a range of planning criteria as well as policies set out in an adopted development plan, such as a Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan.