HELP! Planning for shed on driveway??

[stodds]

Hi,

I have a detached property with an unusable driveway (due to shape) at the side which our neighbours gable end terraced runs along. As this land is currently wasted space we intend on taking down our out houses in the garden to make it bigger and build a timber shed on the drive for storage. The plan is to attach it to our gable end leaving 6" gap from our neighbours property. The roof will be slopping with a gutter so rain water does not run onto the neighbours wall. There is a drain on the driveway so rain water can be directed to it. The overall height will be 2.1m, floor area approx 12 m2 and the shed wall will have large removable panels for access for maintenance if our neighbours require it.

My question is, do i need planning permission to do this?

I spoke to a local property developer/construction owner and was told it could be classed as a temporary structure and would not need planning. However, I have done some research and it says if the structure is used for more than 28 days (which it will be) I need to apply for planning.

The thing is my neighbours, lets say, aren't the greatest and would make it their business to ensure we have done everything by the book.

If I do need to apply for planning I know my neighbours would not agree to it. Would there be any way round it?

Thanks

 

[handyman77]

Pretty sure you dont need PP, its only a shed.

 

[rjm2k]

Depends where you are and what PD rights you have, where I am (1980s new build estate) you can't blow your nose without asking permission.

Depending on the age of your house your Deeds may list the original planning granted to the builders (it will probably say "notwithstanding section xyz of GDPO if they removed rights) or you could ask the council if you have PD rights (I think they can charge), or you could just keep quiet, assume you have rights and do it anyway and risk having to take it down/apply for permission retrospectively.

 

[^woody^]

Pretty sure you dont need PP, its only a shed.

Sheds (and kids playhouses even) are not exempt from PP. It's just that normally they are of a size and location that makes them permitted development

 

[^woody^]

I spoke to a local property developer/construction owner and was told it could be classed as a temporary structure and would not need planning.

Don't listen to him

You need to read up on permitted development, and if the shed size conforms to certain dimensions then you wont need formal permission

In any case if you did need to apply for planning permission, its not a matter of the neighbour agreeing to it, he will have no say. The council will have a planning policy, and all you need to do is conform to that

 

[stodds]

Thanks for all your posts guys. I have just got off the phone to our local planning and it's good news! We do have PD rights and if we build a detached shed next to our prop (no distance restriction) it can be up to 2.5m in height and not exceeding 50% of total garden area. She said we can actually build a single storey side extension to the property wich can be 4m in height and not more than 50% of the width of the house. With regards to our neighbours property there is no distance restriction to how far away the shed needs to be as long as it is on our land and there are no requirements for giving them access to their wall. We will still go ahead and put removable panels in to hopefully stop any friction with them......fingers crossed. So it's classed as permitted development and if we would like it in writting from planning I just need to drop them a line and they will send confirmation. Can't wait to get started!

 

[stodds]

Sorry I should have said none of the above needs PP.

 

[paulf1976]

If its attached to your property would it not need Building Regs?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If its attached to your property would it not need Building Regs?

Technically it would but many a BC departments would be happy to let it go under the radar. Never say never though ........

 

[paulf1976]

It could always sit just slightly 'attached' I suppose to get around this on sale.

 

[stodds]

If its attached to your property would it not need Building Regs?

It has to be within hieght and size requirements. It will be a lean to shed so the side wall can be max of 2.5m with an overall hieght of 3m. The floor area cannot exceed 15m2. It cannot be forward of the front elevation and not exceeding more than 50% of the total width of the property.

If we were to go over the 15m2 then we would have to be 1m away from our neighbours property. As we are not there are no distance requirements from their property.

Work has started and is looking good. Hoping to have it completed by the end of the week subject to the weather!

Explained to neighbours what we are doing and that we can still give them access for maintenance but we're still expecting planning to turn up at some point.

 

[stodds]

Well just had building control at the door! Apparently we have to apply for building regs consent! He was saying it was a side extension and has to be built with combustrial material which is 60 min fire resistant.

Told him it is just shed and had spoke to a planning officer who said we were fine to build it and she did not mention anything about building regs.

He said he is going to write to me in the next 2 days with what is required.

Rang the planning officer back and she said the reason she didn't mention building regs is because it is just a shed and building control would not normally apply. She asked if there was any electricity in it to which I said no. She couldn't understand why we would need consent and from their point of view it is fine. She said to ring him and get him to explain again and that she would also speak to him.

Spoke to our friend who is a building contractor and he said that we don't need consent and that we need to get in touch with the officer and make it clear that it is only a shed being used to store bikes etc, there is no concrete base, no electrics and is under 15m2.

Going to try and speak to him today.

So annoyed as we've spent a lot of money on materials and 3 long days on it thinking everything was above board!

I will keep you updated.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Well just had building control at the door! Apparently we have to apply for building regs consent! He was saying it was a side extension and has to be built with combustrial material which is 60 min fire resistant.

Told him it is just shed and had spoke to a planning officer who said we were fine to build it and she did not mention anything about building regs.

He said he is going to write to me in the next 2 days with what is required.

Rang the planning officer back and she said the reason she didn't mention building regs is because it is just a shed and building control would not normally apply. She asked if there was any electricity in it to which I said no. She couldn't understand why we would need consent and from their point of view it is fine. She said to ring him and get him to explain again and that she would also speak to him.

Spoke to our friend who is a building contractor and he said that we don't need consent and that we need to get in touch with the officer and make it clear that it is only a shed being used to store bikes etc, there is no concrete base, no electrics and is under 15m2.

Going to try and speak to him today.

So annoyed as we've spent a lot of money on materials and 3 long days on it thinking everything was above board!

I will keep you updated.

Planning officers are nothing to do with Building Control, completely separate departments within the council and very rarely even acknowledge each other let alone communicate with each other, planning especially have very poor knowledge of Building Regulations and what is and is not notifiable. Once you attach anything to your house wall it becomes notifiable ie subject to Building control approval. That is what I mentioned in my post yesterday. Given that you're just adding a wall plate and some joists presumably, it could be argued that what you are doing is not really significant which is why some BC departments will let it go however some will not. Sounds like yours won't.

All here, scroll down a bit for Building Regs stuff: http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/outbuildings/

 

[stodds]

After alot of phone calls and research I've managed to sort it out!

Basically because it was attched to our property the building regs would apply but don't if it's detached and under 15m2. So we told BC we will change it to detached and they are happy with that and said there is no need for them to be involved.....yes I've asked for it in writing off them

He tried to say it still needed to be either 1 metre from any boundary or built of non combustibal materials. Told him on the planning portal it says that applys if its between 15-30m2 to which he said oh is it under 15m2! Only told him about 4 times!

Thankfully we've only got the base down so shouldn't be too hard to change it to detacted.

As for putting removable panels in for our neighbours, which isn't a requirement anyway, they can get stuffed!

 

[paulf1976]

Oh dear, you fell into the old 'didn't speak to Building Control' trap!

The attached/detached rule is often misinterpreted. The best tool out there is the interactive house on the planning portal as it tells you the planning and building Reg rules. If every layman started here then there would be a lot less mistakes made.