- Garden Rooms must be single storey with a maximum eave’s height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of 4 metres with a dual pitched roof, or 3 metres in any other case.
- If your Garden Room is within 2 metres of the property boundary the whole building should not exceed 2.5 metres in height.
- You can go up to 50% of the area of all your garden. The area of your garden is all of your land except the part the house stands on, so the area includes the front garden, side gardens and back gardens. Less the area of any other buildings.
- No buildings are to go in front of the front elevation of the house.
- Conservation areas. You cannot build at the front or side. You can put a Garden Room to the rear garden.
- Listed buildings need full planning permission.
- Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Maximum size of 10m2 and at least 20 metres away from the house.
The most important factors are:
- Building Regulations do not usually apply unless you want to sleep in it.
- Under 15m2 internal floor area can be installed close to any rear boundary.
Over 15m2 and up to 30m2 needs to be a minimum 1m from any boundary.
If you want to put up small detached buildings such as a Garden Shed, Garden Room or Summerhouse in your garden, Building Regulations (except Part P for Electrical works) will not normally apply if the floor area of the building is less than 15 square metres INTERNAL and contains NO sleeping accommodation.
If the INTERNAL 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. (*As a solution to this it is possible to coat the cedar cladding of your Garden Room with a non-combustible Intumescent paint for timber and wood, derivatives are available in Water and Solvent based forms with fire ratings of 30, 60 minutes).
In many cases, these structures will be exempt from requiring approval under the Building Regulations if they meet certain exemption criteria.
View ‘Is building regulations approval needed for an outbuilding?'
Complying with Building Regulations.
Part A of the Regulations for structural integrity is fully complied with, ensuring that the building is constructed so that combined dead loads (weight of structural elements), imposed loads (snow, maintenance activities, etc) and wind loads are accounted for. Issues addressed cover elements such as the size and bearing of roof timbers relative to the unsupported roof span per guidance issued by NHBC and TRADA.
Part L (does not apply to buildings under 50m2 internal floor area per Regulation 21) takes account of the insulation qualities of walls, roof, floor, doors and windows, and new Building Regulations introduced in April 2014 impose stricter fabric U-Values for England and Wales of:
Part P In the case of Garden Buildings Part P applies and any work is notifiable to the Local Authority. Work can be self-certified by an Electrical Installer who is registered as a competent person using a BS7671 electrical installation certificate for every job they undertake, with a copy given to the householder. This is supplied by Modern Garden Rooms where we are contracted to do this work.
Please note:
Our standard Garden Rooms are electrically 1st and 2nd fixed internally only. Although we are happy to quote for the installation of an armoured cable from the house to the Garden Room as required, it is not included in our standard Garden Room prices. This is due to the many on-site variables such as: distance from your house to the Garden Room, paths, patios, driveways and other obstacles which could be in the way etc.
Please note that the content on this page is no way binding and all planning permission decisions are dependent on local authorities. Please contact your local council for more information.
We use Ground Screws or Reinforced Concrete base. This will all depend on the condition of your soil.
We require a flat, level site, however we can undertake groundworks and this will be reflected in the final quote if works are necessary.
Our Garden Rooms are built to be thermally efficient with a fully insulated floor (link to SIP Panels), walls and roof. In addition, each Garden Room is supplied with aluminium double glazed doors and windows. The heat retention properties of our Garden Rooms mean you will not normally require any heating for the majority of the year.
As an optional extra we can supply you with either an oil filled radiator heater or wall mounted panel heater to provide heat inside your Garden Room.
Our Garden Rooms are externally clad in either Siberian Larch, Western Red Cedar (other finishes are available on request). Western red Cedar does not require a surface treatment or maintenance. You can choose to add a translucent stain or coloured paint to create a unique finish. Your Utopia Room can finish and treat your timber cladding as an optional extra.
Western Red Cedar with its rich colours, has natural inbuilt preservatives and a very high resistance to decay and requires no additional treatment. You can periodically use a cedar oil to enhance its natural variable colours. Over time both Siberian Larch and Western Red Cedar will eventually turn to a natural grey colour like that of outdoor teak furniture.
Western Red Cedar
Siberian Larch
Prices exclude electrics. Electric package will be discussed at survey stage.
On completion of the build our qualified electrician will visit you to test the internal electrics and provide an electrical certificate in readiness for the mains connection.
To connect mains electricity from your house to the Garden Room, you can either use your own electrician or we can supply you with a quote to carry out the works for you.