Is planning permission for a garden room needed? We’ve put together all the information your need about planning rules and if planning permission is needed for your garden room. This applies to whether you plan to use your new garden room as additional relaxation space, a home office, gym or family room.
4 factors affecting planning permission for a garden room
The four factors that determine whether you need planning permission for a garden room are:
Where you live
Whilst planning rules are generally the same for garden rooms as we’ll explain later, where you live may affect planning. Examples include if you live in a listed property, a conservation area, or other restricted or designated location.
Generally planning permission for a garden room isn’t required for most properties outside listed/conservation status where permitted development rules apply.
Apartments and Maisonettes don’t fall under permitted development so it’s unlikely you’ll get planning permission for these.
The size of your new garden room
Size obviously plays a large part in whether or not you need planning permission, but the general rules are:
- The garden room is single storey and with no balcony or raised area
- Less than 3 metres tall when not within 2m of a boundary
- A maximum of 2.5m high when within 2m of a boundary
- Must not cover more than 50% of the land around your property
The intended garden room useage
You don’t need planning permission for what most people want a garden room for and the main criteria is that it’s not self-contained living accommodation. There are also rules around plumbing and water supply to garden rooms.
Building Regulations don’t come into play with new garden rooms, however, there are some things to bear in mind here too.
Your new garden room can’t be attached to your main home. The floor area needs to fall within a specific limit, presently under thirty square metres. Building Regulations also state it can’t be used as sleeping accommodation although this refers to permanent habitable rooms.
What about planning permission for a home office in a garden room?
With more and more of us working from home and a trend likely to continue as working patterns change, what’s involved regarding planning permission for a garden room intended as a home office or even a business at home?
The same permitted development rules apply so this makes planning for your new home office easy. For most people working from home is an extension to how they’d normally use their home.
Do bear in mind that you may need planning permission if you run a business from home where people frequently visit your property, it’s worth checking with your local authority how this affects your new garden room as there is criteria around whether your home working affects the character of your home.
Regarding wifi, you’re better off running a network cable from your house instead of relying on a wifi connection. This does of course depend on the distance from the hub. Take a look at more information about connecting power to your garden room.
Planning permission for a garden room with a water supply
With many people wanting a garden room as a social space, you may be thinking about water supply. We can help you further with this aspect of your garden room design, but it’s worth finding out whether you’ll need planning permission from your local authority. Of course, the requirements are getting a supply into the garden room as well as suitable waste facilities.
Helping you get the best garden room for your home
As you can see, for most garden room requirements in typical London and Surrey homes, planning permission isn’t usually required. Of course, you’ll also need to plan other elements of your new garden room. There’s another helpful guide around planning to help you.
Insulation is a must giving you a more comfortable interior and comfort all year round. The materials you choose are also important. Our pods use the best in composite materials that are low-maintenance and never need painting. We take care of other details also important such as a solid foundation and helping you with electrics, heating and ventilation, and a choice of wall and flooring materials.
Above all, at Aspire Pods, we make adding valuable, comfortable, and long-term space in your garden a reality. Our range of garden rooms comes with the latest generation materials, excellent insulation, and high-end glazing. Contact us today to arrange a free consultation and quotation.