Garden Room Planning And Building Regulations Permission UK

One of the most important information for building a garden room is to obtain the necessary permissions. Subject to a number of restrictions and requirements, outbuildings are often regarded as approved development under Class E and do not require planning permission. The following are the key elements:

1. That the building’s height from the ground to the peak of the roof is no more than 2.5 metres
2. That neither this building nor any other take up more than 50% of your garden space.
3. It cannot be utilised as a place to sleep or live.

Note: The 2.5m height planning restriction is adhered to in the manufacturing of all of our buildings.

Definition of ‘Permitted Development’:

The maintenance, enhancement, or modification of such a building or enclosure, or the supply of any outbuilding within the confines of the residence for a purpose ancillary to the enjoyment of the residence

In essence, this means that as long as the development’s goal is incidental to the enjoyment of the home, it will be considered permitted development, with the exception of the following situations:

• Any outbuilding must be single storey and have a maximum eaves height of no more than 2.5 metres.
• You are not permitted to have an outbuilding that projects ahead of the front elevation of the original house. If a dual pitched roof is specified, the maximum overall height cannot exceed 4 metres, and it cannot exceed 3 metres for any other roof.
• Any portion of the outbuilding that is within two metres of the property line cannot be taller than 2.5 metres. Therefore, it can be placed as close to the boundary as is practical below 2.5 metres in height.

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No portion of the outbuilding may be taller than 2.5 metres if it is to be placed within 2 metres of the property line. Therefore, it can be placed as close to the boundary as is practical below 2.5 metres in height.

• On an outbuilding, balconies and verandas are not permitted without planning permission.
• Up to a maximum height of 300mm, decking or other raised platforms may be installed around the outbuilding.
• No outbuilding shall be used as a self-contained dwelling and shall not be equipped with a TV or satellite type aerial. In these situations, planning permission will be needed.
• The area of land surrounding the “original house” cannot be more than occupied by outbuildings and other extensions combined. “Original house” refers to the home as it was on July 1, 1948, when it was first constructed (If built before that date). This limit must take all additions, wooden sheds, and outbuildings into account. Although you might not have added an addition, the prior owner might have, and this needs to be taken into account when figuring out the overall limit.

• The maximum size of an outbuilding on designated territory (areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, the Broads, Conservation Areas, and World Heritage Sites) will be limited to 10 square metres, and it must be 20 metres away from any home wall.
• Outbuildings to the side of the house on designated land (AONB, etc.), require planning permission.
• All outbuildings require complete planning clearance if the main structure is listed. Note that only England’s planning laws are covered by this advice. Please verify with your local authority as Scotland and Wales may have slightly different policies.

Please note that even though many of our Garden Rooms are built to be lower than the 2.5m maximum height allowed for Permitted Development, allowing structures to be placed right up against a boundary, we typically need a minimum of 400mm clearance all around our structures to facilitate assembly and take safety precautions.

Garden Room Building regulations:

1. In general, they do not apply unless you wish to sleep there
2. Installations under 15 square metres can be made near to any rear boundary.
3. All areas larger than 15 square metres and smaller than 30 square metres must be at least one metre from any boundary.

If you wish to build a garden shed, garden room, or summerhouse in your yard, the Building Regulations (excluding Part P for Electrical works) often won’t apply as long as the building’s interior floor space is less than 15 square metres and it doesn’t house any sleeping quarters.

You will typically not need to apply for building regulations approval if the building’s INTERNAL floor area is between 15 and 30 square metres, provided that it does not contain any sleeping accommodations and is either at least one metre away from any boundaries or is made of primarily non-combustible materials.

You will typically not need to apply for building regulations approval if the building’s INTERNAL floor area is between 15 and 30 square metres, provided that it does not contain any sleeping accommodations and is either at least one metre away from any boundaries or is made of primarily non-combustible materials.

Garden Room Complying with Building Regulations

Garden Room Buildings do not generally need to adhere to building regulations (other than Part P for Electrical works). But at MODULAR LIFE CABIN & TINY (MOBILE) HOUSE, we think it’s best practise to adhere to Part A of the Regulations, giving our clients the comfort that our structures are not only BUILT TO LASTTM but also secure structurally.

The building is erected in accordance with Part A of the Regulations for structural integrity, making sure that combined dead loads (weight of structural elements), imposed loads (snow, maintenance operations, etc.), and wind loads are taken into account. The topics covered include things like the size and bearing of roof timbers in relation to the unsupported roof span per NHBC and TRADA guidance.

Part L (which, according to Regulation 21, does not apply to buildings with internal floor areas of less than 50 m2) considers the insulation qualities of walls, roofs, floors, doors, and windows. Additionally, new building regulations that went into effect in April 2014 impose stricter fabric U-Value requirements for England and Wales, including:

ENGLAND: Wall 0.18, Floor 0.13, Roof 0.13.

WALES: Wall 0.21, Floor 0.18, Roof 0.15.

Additionally changing in 2015 are the Section 6 Regulations for Scotland.

Our requirements are continually being reviewed to make sure that all of our Garden Rooms provide the optimum balance between price and practical comfort. We are forced to offer to reach the aforementioned targets at a premium over our usual pricing because to the rising costs of complying with the Kyoto Agreement’s requirements for higher levels of insulation.

As a rough estimate: At 2015 pricing, the anticipated annual cost of electricity for heating a 12 square metre MODULAR LIFE CABIN & TINY (MOBILE) HOUSE Garden Room is roughly £100. Part P Part P is applicable in the case of garden buildings, and any work must be reported to the local authority. An Electrical Installer who is registered as a competent person can self-certify work by using a BS7671 electrical installation certificate for each task they take on, and giving a copy to the homeowner. This is provided by MODULAR LIFE CABIN & TINY (MOBILE) HOUSE, with whom we have a work agreement. Consequently, Part P for Electrical installations is complied with in so far as MODULAR LIFE CABIN & TINY (MOBILE) HOUSE is contracted or otherwise to carry-out either internal or external works, or both as the case may be.