Garden room planning permission checker

Answer the questions to see whether your garden room should fall under permitted development, and whether it’s exempt from building regulations. It covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and links each rule to the law or official guidance it comes from.

1. Where is the house?
2. The property

Is it a house, not a flat or maisonette?

Is the house listed, or is the garden part of a listed building’s grounds?

Is it in any of these areas?

Green belt on its own doesn’t change garden room rights.

Has the council removed permitted development rights (an Article 4 direction or a planning condition)?

Your council’s planning register or the house’s original permission will say.
3. How you’ll use it
4. Position and size

Where in the garden?

Will it be at least 5m from the road or pavement?

Is there a road on the other side of your back boundary?

Is the ground sloping where it will go?

Any deck, veranda or balcony?

With this room, will extensions and outbuildings cover more than half the garden?

Count every outbuilding and extension added since 1948, but not the original house.
5. For building regulations

Built substantially of non-combustible materials?

Will it have a toilet, shower, sink or wood stove?

Planning

    Building regulations

      What this checker can’t see
      • Article 4 directions and planning conditions on your house
      • Covenants in your deeds, and lease terms for flats
      • Whether part of your land isn’t classed as garden (curtilage)
      • Listed walls or buildings nearby
      • How your council measures height on a slope
      • Tree preservation orders, and trees in conservation areas
      • Council tax: the VOA decides that separately

      General information, not legal advice. For certainty in England, apply for a lawful development certificate before you build.

      Rules as of October 2026ukgardenroom.com

      How the checker works

      Each nation has its own rules for buildings in the garden. England and Wales use Class E of their permitted development orders, Scotland uses Class 3A, and Northern Ireland uses Class D. The checker tests your answers against each condition in turn: property type, listed status, protected areas, use, position, height, eaves, decks and verandas, and how much of the garden is covered.

      Building regulations are checked separately, because a room can be allowed under planning and still need building regulations approval. In England and Wales the key thresholds are 15m² and 30m² of internal floor area, the 1m boundary rule and sleeping accommodation. Scotland uses 8m² and 30m² and needs a warrant for any toilet, sink, shower or stove. Northern Ireland has its own exemptions.

      What it can’t check

      • Article 4 directions and planning conditions that remove rights. Your council’s planning register shows them.
      • Covenants in your deeds, which planning permission doesn’t override, and lease terms for flats.
      • Whether all your land counts as garden (curtilage), and listed walls or buildings nearby.
      • How your council measures height on sloping ground.

      For certainty in England, apply for a lawful development certificate (£136 from April 2026) before you build. It’s also useful proof when you sell.

      Questions

      What is the 2.5m rule?

      In England and Wales, if any part of a garden building is within 2m of a boundary, the whole building can be no more than 2.5m high. In Scotland the distance is 1m. In Northern Ireland the law limits the eaves, not the overall height.

      Can I sleep in a garden room without planning permission?

      Not as a regular bedroom in England: that’s primary living accommodation, not incidental use. Sleeping accommodation also brings it under building regulations at any size.

      Does a garden room need building regulations?

      In England and Wales, not if it’s 15m² or less inside with no sleeping. From 15m² to 30m² it must be at least 1m from every boundary or substantially non-combustible. Electrics are notifiable at any size.

      Use this garden room planning checker on your site

      Free to embed on a blog, forum or council page. Copy the code below. Please keep the credit link.

      Sources

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