Garden Room Planning Permission
Does a garden room need Planning Permission?
You will normally be able to proceed without needing to apply for garden room planning permission using “permitted development rights”.
They derive from a general planning permission granted not by the local authority but by Government. Bear in mind that the permitted development rights which apply to many common projects for houses do not apply to flats, maisonettes or other buildings. Similarly, commercial properties have different permitted development rights to dwellings.
In some areas of the country, known generally as ‘designated areas’, permitted development rights are more restricted. For example, if you live in:
a Conservation Area
a National Park
an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
a World Heritage Site or
the Norfolk or Suffolk Broads.
Does garden room need Building Regulations approval?
If you want to put up small detached buildings such as a garden room or a garden office in your garden, building regulations will not normally apply if the floor area of the building is less than 15 square metres and contains NO sleeping accommodation.
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.
In many cases, these structures will be exempt from requiring approval under the Building Regulations if they meet certain exemption criteria.
If the Regulations do apply to the building then it must be built to reasonable standards.