Do I Need Planning Permission For A Garden Room?

Getting to enjoy more of the outdoors and utilising space that might otherwise have been ignored are just two reasons to install a garden room on your property.

• But do you need to apply for planning permission first?
• Are there any extra costs involved in this?
• Is there a maximum size of room you can have without planning permission?
• Could this potentially slow down the construction process?

Let’s find out.

How big can an outbuilding be without planning permission?

Garden rooms will normally escape the need for planning permission as long as:

• The building isn’t on land in front of a wall forming the main elevation.
• The building is single-storey with a maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres,
• It is a maximum overall height of four metres with a dual-pitched roof, or three metres for any other type of roof.
• The building is no taller than 2.5 metres tall if it’s within 2 metres of a property boundary.
• Your building doesn’t have a veranda, balcony or raised platform exceeding 0.3 metres tall.
• No more than half the area of land around the “original house” would be covered by additions or other buildings.
• The maximum area to be covered by buildings, enclosures, containers and pools more than 20 metres from the house has to be limited to 10 square metres in National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites.
• The building isn’t within the curtilage area of listed buildings

If the floor area of the building is between 15 square metres and 30 square metres, you will not normally be required to apply for building regulations approval providing that the building contains NO sleeping accommodation and is either at least one metre from any boundary or it is constructed substantially of non-combustible materials.

Exquisite garden rooms since the 1980s

You won’t need planning permission for the vast amount of garden rooms that we design and build, but we do offer a bespoke design service where we can craft a unique garden to your unique specifications. Everything from the size, shape and height of the building to the materials used in its construction can be designed to your brief, so you get the exact room that you’re dreaming of and a true one-off building that no one else has.

If you have any questions linked to our garden offices, garden buildings, luxury contemporary garden rooms or insulated garden rooms then speak to our expert team who’ll be happy to offer their help.

Please note, heights and dimensions can be provided for any of our buildings at your request. Although we can assist with guidance, planning permission is the customers’ responsibility.

Garden Buildings