Does each new owner of a house get a fresh batch of permitted development rights?

[Jippers]

Two houses adjacent to me both applied to have extensions that were turned down for over-development of the plot. One property has had 3 previous extensions the other had had five. The houses sold because the owners couldn't get the space they wanted and low & behold, the new owners take possession & build the exact extensions previously refused. Both houses are now at the maximum for the plot. One new neighbour sought planning & got it, the other I'm not sure about. I'm just struck by the changability of the council planning dept. I don't actually mind what either neighbour has done as they've clearly got enough money to do a quality job and both look very nice.

No. Planning permission is granted on the property and plot, not to the individual. If permitted development is exceeded for the property then that is it, done. Any extra extension needs planning permission.

If you are concerned about how much extension work has happened without permission, contact your council enforcement team. It may be that council hasn't changed, the new owners may just have taken a gamble and built without permission.

As Thor says, planning permission or permitted development rights run with the property, not the owner. You mention that at least some of the work had planning permission.

I wonder whether what happened here (depending on when it happened) is that previous owners took advantage of the extension of permitted development rights to do things which previously would have required (or had been refused) planning permission.

No, it’s with the property. We are extending and can only go so far with PD as there is already an extension. Council and structural engineer have told us this.

Permitted development rights have changed (been relaxed) over the years, so it is possible that something might not have been pd in the past, but complies with later rules.