Planning Permission for Garden Rooms

 

Everything You Need to Know About Planning Permission for Garden Rooms

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about planning permission when it comes to new garden rooms.

What is a garden room?

Garden rooms are detached buildings separate from the main home or original building, and are excellent alternatives to a traditional home extension. Sometimes known as a modern summer house, a garden room is a single-storey extension of your home’s space with multiple potential uses, such as a garden office, additional living area, home gym, or even an extra bedroom. Garden rooms are their ancillary building, comprising a solid base and walls with a watertight roof; unlike old-fashioned timber summer houses, modern garden rooms are fully insulated with electrical amenities, and can even be fitted with central heating so that they can be enjoyed year round.

Garden rooms have become increasingly popular in recent years as another option for adding much needed space to homeowners’s properties, especially with house prices and traditional extension costs skyrocketing. Often with vast, large windows and commonly possessing French doors or bi-folding doors, garden rooms are the perfect solution to increasing the internal floor space of your property whilst making the most of your outdoor space and adding contemporary flair to your home and garden. 

With flexible and remote working on the rise since the pandemic, garden office options have become hugely popular as a happy middle ground between working from the comfort of your own home and needing a dedicated workspace to work from. In having a garden office, you can work peacefully and without the distractions that can come with working from home, be that interruptions from your family, or simply needing a separate workspace that you can leave come the end of your work day. 

Garden buildings are also significantly more affordable than their traditional home extension counterparts, due to numerous factors such as requiring fewer materials and labour, less site preparation needed, and often not requiring the costs of applications for local planning authority approval and building regulations approval. Planning application costs are nearly always involved in a standard home extension, and can quickly mount up even before the building works have begun.

South Wales Garden Rooms are the leading supplier of garden rooms in Cardiff and across South Wales. We offer both bespoke and modular garden room options, with a wide range of options to make your new garden building fully customisable. Our customer-focused team provides expert craftsmanship along with excellent customer service to create your perfect garden solution. From listening to your initial ideas through to a comprehensive installation, our specialists can provide you with your ideal new garden space in Cardiff. For more information about our garden rooms, or if you would like to begin your project with a free, no-obligation quote, then give our friendly team a call at 02920 600 478, or contact us here.

Is planning permission needed for a garden room?

While there is no blanket answer to whether you will require planning permission for your new garden room, it is commonly not required. Factors such as where you would like your garden room to be situated, how big you would like it to be and how you intend to use your new space will all dictate whether or not planning rules permission and building consent will be required. 

Garden rooms often fall within the category of having permitted development rules under class E, therefore not requiring planning permission from your local planning office to begin building. Permitted development rules under class E is an approved planning permission category, as long as your new outbuilding is built according to a set of limits and conditions. These conditions include:

• • The garden room cannot have more than a single storey
  • The roof height cannot exceed 4 metres when it has more than one pitch (e.g a dual-pitched roof) or 3 metres in height when in a single pitch form
  • It must not exceed 2.5 metres above ground level if it will have a flat roof, or if it will be built within 2 metres of the property boundary, and, in Wales, it must have a maximum eaves height of 1.5 metres in height if within 2 metres of the main house
  • That the new outbuilding does not take up more than half of your garden space and includes other buildings that will be built or have already been built.
  • The garden room cannot be built in front of the building line of the principal elevation, or extend past the side elevation when it would be located closer to a public road than the original house
  • It must not be used as a self-contained living accommodation or sleeping quarters
  • The building must not have any balconies, raised platforms, or verandas

Aside from the size, height, and location of your proposed garden room, how it might be used will also dictate whether or not planning permission will be required. For example, if you wish to add a WC or bathroom to your garden room, its use will no longer be deemed incidental as it will have similar facilities to your main house. If you are planning on adding a bathroom or kitchenette to your new outbuilding, whilst they can be extremely useful and increase its functionality further, you will likely need to seek planning rules permission.

Other factors must be considered under permitted development allowances, such as whether your property has a listed status, or is located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), a national park, the Broads, any conservation areas, or world heritage sites, as this will bring additional limits. If your property has been defined as having special architectural or historic interest, as per the Secretary of State, you must always seek planning permission from your local planning department for the build of any structure, and if your property lies in one of the above areas, the size of your proposed new garden room must be within 10 square metres and must be built at least 20 metres away from the original house.

At South Wales Garden Rooms, we appreciate that it can be difficult to know whether you will need planning permission for your new garden room or not. Our expert team is always on hand to answer your questions and can advise you on what you are required to do before beginning your dream garden project. We can advise on whether your ideal new room will need planning permission, how to go about applying for approval from your local authority, and can even help to amend your designs should you not wish to go down the path of needing to get permission; by amending the size of your planned garden room, changing the location within your outdoor space, or suggesting alternative uses, you will likely be able to start your dream garden room project sooner and without the need for approval.

To discuss whether or not your ideal garden room will need planning permission, or what options you have should you not be granted planning approval, do not hesitate to give one of our friendly team members a call on 02920 600 478 or submit your enquiry here – one of our team members will get in touch with you shortly.

Garden Rooms By Function and Whether They Need Planning Permission

Garden Office

If you are planning on using your garden room as a simple garden office for just yourself or your family to use for remote work, it is unlikely that you will need to apply for planning permission. However, if you wish to add a bathroom or kitchenette so that you do not need to return to the main house for toilet and lunch breaks, or wish to use it as a conference-style room or your business’ headquarters, you will then usually need to apply for permission from the authorities.

Living Area

Should you wish to simply add some additional living space to your home in the way of a garden room, you will likely not need planning permission, as long as all the permitted development allowances are met. Planning permission will only be required if you are looking to create your new living space into a self-contained accommodation option, such as a guest house or granny annex.

Additional Bedrooom

If you are hoping to use your new outbuilding as a much needed additional bedroom for your home, you will likely need to seek planning permission, as any building used for sleeping purposes is subject to both planning permission and building regs approval, regardless of the size or location of your proposed garden room.

Home Gym or Yoga Studio

Similarly to a garden office, if your new gym or yoga studio is simply for just you and your family to enjoy, it is unlikely that you would need planning permission approval. However, if you are a personal trainer or yoga instructor and wish to teach classes, for example, then it would be seen as a business premises, and would therefore be subject to an approved planning permission application. 

Garden Pub or Bar

Garden pubs and bars have been on the rise since the pandemic, and it is now common for garden rooms to be built to accommodate one. In most instances, as long as the permitted development rules are met, and the pub or bar isn’t used as a business, it is simply seen as a room for leisure purposes and therefore would not be subject to planning permission approval.

Is Building Regulations Approval Needed for a Garden Room?

Similarly to planning permission rules, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to whether you need building consent when planning your new garden room. Current building regulations state that building regs permission from the local authority is not required if your new garden room follows the below rules:

• • You will not be using your new outbuilding for sleeping purposes
  • If the internal floor space does not exceed 15 square metres in size (this size outbuilding can be located near your boundary lines)
  • If it is between 15 and 30 square metres in size, but is located at least 1 metre away from your property’s boundary, or if it is built from substantially non-combustible building materials

If your proposed garden room does not meet the above criteria, you will likely need to apply for building regulations approval from your local planning authority.

At South Wales Garden Rooms, we appreciate that it can be pretty confusing to tell whether you would need to apply for building regulations consent. If you aren’t sure as to whether your ideal garden room would be compliant with current building regulations, or whether you would need to apply for building regs consent, get in touch with our expert team for advice today at 02920 600 478.

About South Wales Garden Rooms

South Wales Garden Rooms are the leading suppliers of garden rooms in Cardiff and across the rest of South Wales. Offering both modular and bespoke options, we can create the perfect garden room for you and your family, regardless of your garden size, style preference, or budget. With fully customisable options such as windows, doors, flooring, finishes, electrics, and central heating, we can help you build your ideal new garden room to add much needed space to your home, without the need for a costly and complex traditional home extension. 

Our friendly team will help you from initial design through to expert installation, ensuring that you won’t have to worry about anything. We are committed to a customer-centric approach to ensure that your personal and individual requirements are met, along with ensuring that all planning permissions and building regulations are met, to ensure that your end result is a perfect, customised, and functional new garden room.

To chat about installing a new garden room in your outdoor space and whether or not you will need to seek planning permission approval, or to request a free, no-obligation quote, call one of our expert team members at South Wales Garden Rooms on 02920 600 478, or use our online enquiry form here.