Planning Permission

Many kinds of buildings and structures can be built in your garden or on the land around your house without the need to apply for planning permission. There are, however, limits and conditions which must be followed and in some circumstances you will need to apply for planning permission.

At Garden Spaces we have become experts in the area of planning law that pertain to Garden buildings.

From experience, we know that our clients want to create additional quality space quickly and with the minimum hassle. All of our innovative contemporary designs have been created to work within the framework of planning law and avoid unnecessary red tape.

We are the only company who can create a 2.5m tall structure which generally avoids the need for a planning application and maintain 2.2m internal headroom (without compromising thermal performance) thus generally avoiding the need for costly, lengthy and broadly an uncertain outcome at your local council planning department.

The Small Print

Rules governing outbuildings apply to sheds, greenhouses and garages as well as other ancillary garden buildings such as swimming pools, ponds, sauna cabins, kennels, enclosures (including tennis courts) and many other kinds of structure for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house.Other rules relate to the installation of a satellite dish, the erection of a new dwelling or the erection or provision of fuel storage tanks.

Outbuildings are considered to be permitted development, not needing planning permission, subject to the following limits and conditions:

• No outbuilding on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation.
• Outbuildings and garages to be single storey with maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of four metres with a dual pitched roof or three metres for any other roof.
• Maximum height of 2.5 metres in the case of a building, enclosure or container within two metres of a boundary of the curtilage of the dwelling house.
• No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.
• No more than half the area of land around the “original house”* would be covered by additions or other buildings.
• In National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites the maximum area to be covered by buildings, enclosures, containers and pools more than 20 metres from house to be limited to 10 square metres.
• On designated land* buildings, enclosures, containers and pools at the side of properties will require planning permission.
• Within the curtilage of listed buildings any outbuilding will require planning permission.

Outbuildings Mini Guide

To access a guide to the planning permission and permitted development regimes for outbuildings click here .

*The term “original house” means the house as it was first built or as it stood on 1 July 1948 (if it was built before that date). Although you may not have built an extension to the house, a previous owner may have done so.

*Designated land includes national parks and the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, conservation areas and World Heritage Sites.

Please note: the permitted development allowances described here apply to houses not flats, maisonettes or other buildings. View guidance on flats and maisonettes here.