Building permits, zoning and septic in New London Township, PA

At a glance

Building permits

Required for UCC-covered residential construction; start with the Township office¹⁶

Zoning

Township zoning districts and conservation overlays apply⁷

Septic permits

Chester County Health Department; installation, repair and modification require approval³⁸

RV living

Prohibited in identified floodplain areas unless a variance is obtained; ask the Township about other locations⁵

Tiny homes

Distinct tiny-home occupancy rules unconfirmed; accessory dwellings have a 400-square-foot minimum⁹

Residential lot size

R-Residential detached homes ordinarily need 1 acre of net lot area; conditional reductions exist¹⁰

Wells

County construction permit required; application by an appropriately licensed contractor⁴

Owner-builder

State contractor-license relief does not establish a local building-permit exemption¹¹¹

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on October 11, 2026.

Does New London Township have zoning, lot-size rules and setbacks?

New London Township has municipal zoning, with R-Residential, C-Commercial, LI-Limited Industrial, NLV-New London Village and I-Institutional base districts, plus flood-hazard, steep-slope and riparian-buffer overlays.⁷ Ask the Township to identify the parcel’s district and overlays before choosing a house site.²

For single-family detached homes in the R-Residential District, the ordinary minimum net lot area is 1 acre, with a conditional reduction to 0.75 acres tied to water, sewage, stormwater, conservation and common-open-space requirements.¹⁰ R-Residential front setbacks are 40 feet along residential roads, 50 feet along collector roads and 60 feet along arterial roads; side yards are 25 feet each and the rear yard is 50 feet.¹² Maximum building coverage is 15% and maximum impervious coverage is 25% of net lot area in that district.¹³

Do you need a building permit in New London Township, and who handles it?

New London Township residential construction covered by Pennsylvania’s Uniform Construction Code requires a building permit before construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, demolition or a change of occupancy, subject to applicable exclusions.¹ Start with the New London Township Office: the Township publishes building and electrical applications, a building-permit workflow, zoning applications and its permit-cost schedule.⁶

The Township’s workflow says a change in use, creation of a new use or expansion of an existing use requires a zoning permit.¹⁴ Township zoning-chapter fees are set by Board of Supervisors resolution, available to the public and payable in advance; request the applicable schedule before submitting.¹⁵ Pennsylvania’s owner-builder contractor-license provisions do not establish an exemption from the residential building-permit requirement; ask the Township about local contractor requirements.¹¹¹

How do septic and well permits work inside New London Township?

Chester County Health Department administers on-lot sewage permitting inside New London Township; installing, repairing or modifying a system requires a septic permit.³⁸ The application process requires an acceptable percolation test and acceptable test pits, so arrange the site evaluation with the Health Department before committing to a house layout.⁸ No part of the system may be covered before final inspection and written approval from the County’s Sewage Enforcement Officer.¹⁶

Chester County also requires construction permits for private water-supply wells, geothermal wells, monitoring wells and test wells, with applications made by appropriately licensed contractors.⁴ For new construction, a well-permit application requires public sewerage or a valid sewage permit.⁴ An accessory dwelling must connect to an available community or public sewage system.¹⁷

Can you live in an RV or tiny home in New London Township?

In New London Township’s identified floodplain areas, recreational vehicles are prohibited unless a variance is obtained.⁵ A variance carries additional duration, licensing and highway-readiness conditions in the specified flood zones; ask the Township to evaluate the parcel and proposed RV use before relying on that exception.⁵ We could not confirm residential RV occupancy outside the floodplain or a distinct tiny-home occupancy category; ask the Township zoning office about the proposed location, foundation and duration.⁶

New London Township’s accessory-dwelling rules require at least 400 square feet of gross habitable area and cap the unit at 33% of the principal dwelling’s gross habitable area.⁹ Those accessory-unit limits do not establish a townshipwide minimum for every new principal home.⁹ Manufactured homes are also prohibited in identified floodplain areas unless a qualifying variance is obtained, followed by foundation, elevation, anchoring and installation requirements.¹⁸

Building a home in New London Township: what are the steps?

1. Ask the Township to confirm the zoning district, conservation overlays, allowed use and house setbacks for the parcel; flood-hazard construction or development requires zoning approval before commencement.⁷¹²¹⁹
2. Contact Chester County Health Department for sewage testing and septic approval, then arrange the well application through a licensed contractor where needed.⁸⁴
3. Submit the Township’s applicable zoning and building applications and request the current fee schedule.⁶¹⁵
4. Resolve driveway access: the Township workflow requires a driveway permit for new access to a public street or driveway expansion, and work on state highway land requires PennDOT approval.¹⁴²⁰
5. Schedule required construction inspections and obtain the building code official’s certificate of occupancy before using a UCC-covered residential building.²¹²²

What stays with Chester County, and what should you check before buying?

Inside New London Township, Chester County Health Department remains the septic and well permitting contact; Township zoning approval does not replace those approvals.³⁴ For land elsewhere in the county, consult the Chester County guide and identify the municipality whose zoning ordinance applies.²³

For a New London Township homestead, agricultural use requires at least 4 acres, while intensive agricultural operations require at least 25 acres of net tract area.²⁴ Farm dwellings and their accessory buildings require at least 50 feet from property lines; barns and similar agricultural structures generally require 100 feet from property lines, street rights-of-way or streams.²⁵ Pennsylvania excludes qualifying nonhabitable agricultural buildings from the Construction Code Act, but municipal land-use and other applicable requirements can still apply.²⁶ Ask the Township to review the actual farm use and structure before treating a barn as exempt.²⁶

Watch-outs

• New London Township’s RV floodplain restriction does not confirm permission to live in an RV on other land; ask the Township zoning office about the specific parcel.⁵⁶
• The 400-square-foot accessory-dwelling minimum is not a confirmed minimum for all principal homes in New London Township.⁹
• New London Township flood-hazard development requires a zoning permit before commencement; check the overlay before choosing a building site.¹⁹

Sources

1. Part XIV, Uniform Construction Code, Chapter 403 Administration (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
2. New London Township Subdivision & Land Development and Zoning Ordinances (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
3. Sewage Permitting (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
4. Chester County Health Department Rules and Regulations, quoted and re-checked
5. §1-1121 Special Requirements for Recreational Vehicles (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
6. New London Township Office (newlondontwp.net)
7. Compilation of Land Use Ordinances of the Township of New London, Chapter 1: Zoning (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
8. Application and Permit Procedure for On Lot Sewage Systems (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
9. §1-1429 Accessory Dwelling Units (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
10. §1-404 Area and Bulk Regulations (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
11. Contractor Licensing (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
12. §1-404 Area and Bulk Regulations (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
13. §1-404 Area and Bulk Regulations (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
14. New London Township Building Permit Process (newlondontwp.net)
15. Compilation of Land Use Ordinances of the Township of New London, Chapter 1: Zoning (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
16. Application and Permit Procedure for On Lot Sewage Systems, quoted and re-checked
17. §1-1429 Accessory Dwelling Units (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
18. §1-1120 Special Requirements for Manufactured Homes (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
19. Compilation of Land Use Ordinances of the Township of New London, Chapter 1: Zoning (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
20. Apply for a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
21. Part XIV, Uniform Construction Code, Chapter 403 Administration (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
22. Part XIV, Uniform Construction Code, Chapter 403 Administration (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
23. Planning in Pennsylvania, quoted and re-checked
24. §1-1435 Agricultural Regulations (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
25. §1-1435 Agricultural Regulations (New London Township), quoted and re-checked
26. Pennsylvania Construction Code Act — Chapter 1 (Pennsylvania statewide rule), quoted and re-checked

Written October 11, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.