Planning Permission for Garden Rooms

Under new regulations that came into effect on 1st October 2008, garden rooms are considered to be permitted development, not needing planning permission, subject to a number of limits and conditions. Importantly, though, garden rooms must be for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house.

Garden Spaces’ buildings are designed to meet the requirements of the new regulations.

However, if you can answer ‘yes’ to any of the following, your room will need planning permission:

• Will the garden room have a maximum overall height over 2.5m and be positioned within two metres of your boundary?
  
  
• Will the garden room stand forward of the principal elevation of your house, fronting the highway?
  
  
• Will the garden room, along with other buildings and additions, occupy more than half the area of land around the original house (as first built or as it soon on 1st July 1948)?
  
  
• Will the garden room be built at the side of your house, on land designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a national park, the Broads or a World Heritage Site?
  
  
• Will the garden room be located within the curtilage of a listed building?

In these circumstances, or any circumstances where there may be some concern about planning, it’s always best to contact the local council for advice. Customers can do that themselves, or the Garden Spaces’ team are more than happy to find out the situation for themselves.

Garden Spaces Planning Service
If planning permission is necessary, customers can sort the application themselves. Alternatively, let Garden Spaces organise it all for you. There is an additional fee for this service.

Building Regulations for Garden Rooms
The rules governing building regulations for garden rooms are as follows:

• Less than 15m² – building regulations will not normally apply
  
• Between 15m² and 30m² – building regulations will not normally apply, providing that the building is either at least one metre from any boundary or is constructed of substantially non-combustible materials.

In both these cases, building regulations do not apply only if the building does not contain sleeping accommodation. In situations where building regulations are required Garden Spaces will, of course, help their customers to get approval for their garden rooms.

Investigations into building regulations compliance is well under way and we have designed our current buildings to be as compliant as possible. This relates to;

• Granny Annexes (for permanent habitation or over 30m₂) with all the latest safety technology – video phone, emergency pull switches etc
• Extensions – we are looking into attaching our buildings to houses to create a home extension range with various claddings (wood, brick and render).
• Subterranean Studios – ideal for sloping sites. We plan to offer a range of ‘tanked’ buildings that can sit into the ground. This will replace the need for retaining walls and offer a truly unique experience.

NB
All the information regarding planning/building regulations is based on the system in England. It is given as guidance only and should not be relied upon as definitive legal information.

Planning Links Click the portal image to be taken direct to the outbuilding planning page... Planning and building regulation guidance, provided by the Government Visit Planning Portal