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DO I NEED PLANNING PERMISSION FOR A SHED?
Do I Need Planning Permission For A Shed?
If you are looking to add a shed to your home, there are rules governing such outbuildings. The same rules apply to playhouses, 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 structures including climbing frames.
If you are unsure whether or not your planned addition falls under the category of ‘outbuildings’ or if you are still unsure after reading this article if you need planning permission or not then contact us and we will be happy to offer free impartial advice.
With that out of the way lets carry on with the article in question – which was “Do I Need Planning Permission For A Shed”
Lets begin by seeing what’s possible under your permitted development rights.
Assuming your permitted development rights are intact (a quick call into your local authority Planning Dept will be ale to confirm this. Alternatively, many Councils have now published their planning constraints maps on their websites and you can enter your post code it will advise if any planning constraints may affect your properties permitted development rights.
Another method of checking is to do a quick search through the Councils Planning Applications list for similar properties on your road.
If others houses have added sheds or outbuildings by obtaining a lawful development certificate then it is highly likely that you can do the same.
If your planning search reveals that your permitted development rights have been removed then you will need to apply for householder planning consent.
Don’t let this put you off though because providing your proposals are inline with what you would have been allowed under your permitted development rights then your chances of your shed being approved are excellent.
So lets assume you have your permitted development rights intact – Now lets find out what kind of shed or outbuilding you can build without planning permission.
Do I Need Planning Permission For A Shed? Lets See What Can Be Done Without Planning Permission…
Under no circumstances will you be allowed to build over more than half the area of land around the “original house”*.
All Extensions, Conservatories. Sheds and other outbuildings must be included when calculating this 50 per cent limit.
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.
Another very important note to add here is that If you live in a ground floor flat or maisonette then you do not have the same permitted development rights as someone who lives in a house – or to be more precise you have zero permitted development rights at all, and your shed, no matter how small would require Planning Permission before you can build it.
Do I Need Planning Permission For A Shed – A Few More Considerations
First things first,. If your looking to add a shed at the front of your house then any outbuilding on land forward of a wall forming your principle (front) elevation will require planning consent – there is no option to build such a building under your permitted development rights.
All sheds, outbuildings and garages MUST be single storey with a maximum eaves height of 2.5m and a maximum overall height of four metres with a dual pitched roof and 3m with any other type of roof.
If your shed, outbuilding or garage is located within two metres of a boundary wall or fence then the maximum height of the building would be 2.5m. Therefore sheds or outbuildings with apex/dual pitched roofs would be unsuitable in such locations unless the pitch is shallow enough that the building height can be kept under 2.5m
If you are looking to add decking or a raised patio/veranda outside your shed or outbuilding then this can be no higher than 300mm
This is the same for patios and raised decks anywhere else within the
Where on designated land (Article 2(3)) or a site of special scientific interest this all sheds, outbuildings and enclosures will require planning permission.
Within the curtilage of listed buildings any shed or outbuilding will require planning permission
Adding A Shed or Outbuilding To My Home Without Planning Permission – A Cautionary Tale
So you have gone and added an outbuilding to your home and a few years down the line you decide to sell up and move house.
You find a buyer and begin the sales process.
Your Half way through the sale and the buyers solicitor carries out the standard checks and can see no record of planning permission being sought (or given) for your outbuilding.
It is at this stage that we receive many a call from a very stressed individual asking how quickly we can provide a set of drawings and apply for a lawful development certificate for their outbuilding.
This situation is not ideal for the homeowner looking to sell as they could potentially lose a buyer.
It is also far from ideal for us as we will embark on a project where we are being chased continuously through the council process by the seller who will be under increasing pressure to get this issue resolved.
In an ideal situation, a lawful development will be granted and the sale will go through without a hitch.
What happens however if it is found that the outbuilding did not conform with permitted development?
The short answer is that the lawful development certificate will be refused and then the seller is thrown into a whole different ball game of applying for retrospective planning permission for an unlawful outbuilding and in all likelihood will also lose their buyer.
How could all of this of been avoided? We answer this question in the chapter below.
Adding A Shed To My Home Without Planning Permission – How To Remove All The Risks
So you have read all the way down to the bottom of this Article and are now looking for a way to add a shed in your garden without planning permission that is totally risk free.
We have three magic words for you and they are ‘Lawful Development Certificate’
Basically a lawful development certificate is a legal document that your council will provide you with to confirm that your shed or outbuilding fully complies with Permitted Development and therefore does not require planning permission.
All you need to get your hands on a lawful development certificate is to send a set of basic plans into the council together with their fee of £126.00 and the council will look over the drawings and issue a certificate confirming everything complies.
A register of your lawful development certificate will be added to your property record so that it shows up in any searches should you ever decide to sell your home.
In order to make it easy for anyone needing a lawful development certificate we have created a very handy fixed price package that includes everything you need to get one for your conservatory.
And as an award for the first 20 people to read this article simply use the discount code First20 to claim a discount of £100!