Concrete garden shed/studio

JasperKat

Hi guys,

We're thinking of building a concrete shed in our garden, which can be used as a studio/workshop/games room, it would be hidden on 2 sides by 20' high Lelandi trees, 3rd side will overlook our house, the other side is looking into our two existing sheds, we've been told that if it's 25 sq metres it's exempt from planning permission but then someone else has said exemption limit has changed to something like 40 sq metres - does anyone know which would be right? also, if it's used for business purposes do we need planning permission/consent?

Wld appreciate any advice/hints or tips on this, thanks in advance.

Jasper

Gumbo

the internal area has to be 25 square meters or less with a max height of 4 meters (pitched roof) or 3 meters (flat roof).

but you mention also that it will over look your other sheds, bear in mind that the total area of all your sheds have to be 25 square meters or less alltogether, not each shed = 25 Sq. M

JasperKat

Kceire, many thanks for your reply, I didn't know anything about the height limits so your advice is much appreciated!

Just to elaborate a little further, we live next door to a close relative and as such our gardens are 'open plan' i.e. there's no fence between them, the other sheds I mention are 'strictly speaking' not actually ours or in fact in 'our' garden but in our next door neighbor's. So, presumably it would be easy to put a 'token' fence up btw us & the other sheds wouldn't then be considered part of the 25 Sq. M that we're allowed?

What about if it's going to be used for commercial purposes at any time? I presume we'd need planning permission or consent?

Thanks again,

Jasper

muffler

As kceire posted above the max. exempted floor area is 25m2 and that is for domestic use only. Any other use will necessitate an application for change of use if it is already constructed regardless of the size.

The 40 m2 you refer to applies to the max. size of a domestic extension to a dwelling house which is a seperate issue to a garage/store.

The DoE have planning leaflets which are helpful - PL5 is the one you should read

One Cold Hand

Hmmm just wondering about this.
The OP said that the 'shed' is to be used for a studio / games room. In my opinion this would be a domestic use, as opposed to garage / storage. If this is the case would he not be allowed to build it at 40sqm?

Or is it also limited to 25sqm by the fact that it's at the end of the garden, as opposed to an actual extension?

muffler

One Cold Hand wrote:

Hmmm just wondering about this.
The OP said that the 'shed' is to be used for a studio / games room. In my opinion this would be a domestic use, as opposed to garage / storage. If this is the case would he not be allowed to build it at 40sqm?

Or is it also limited to 25sqm by the fact that it's at the end of the garden, as opposed to an actual extension?

For the 40 m2 exemption to kick in the new extension has to be physically attached to and be accessed from the house thus leaving it an integral part of the dwelling. When it is detached from the house it no longer becomes an extension of the dwelling house but an individual unit thus the reason why it is then restricted to a size of 25 m2

JasperKat

Muffler thanks for the info, it's really useful.

we intend using it initially for a studio/games room & as a study for a while, but possibly further in the future as a base for a new business venture - if we ever get that far, it's just an idea in our heads at the moment so we'll then need planning permission or consent for change of use, we don't want to build it & then find that if we'd got pp we could have gone that bit bigger so do you think it'd make sense for us to go for pp from the outset?

Jasper

muffler

JasperKat wrote:

Muffler thanks for the info, it's really useful.

we intend using it initially for a studio/games room & as a study for a while, but possibly further in the future as a base for a new business venture - if we ever get that far, it's just an idea in our heads at the moment so we'll then need planning permission or consent for change of use, we don't want to build it & then find that if we'd got pp we could have gone that bit bigger so do you think it'd make sense for us to go for pp from the outset?

Jasper

I think you may well be better off in applying for the planning permission for a larger "shed" now rather than confine or restrict yourself to the max. 25 m2 floor space just to avoid making a planning application. Unless you go for something thats in excess of 60 - 70 m2 you shouldn't have too much problem with planning for domestic use. Of course the acceptable size can vary depending on whether you in a urban or rural location.

If you get the planning sorted now and and if your business ideas come to fruition then you can always apply then for permission for a change of use. Worst case scenario is that you are refused permission for the business use but in that event you can still have the domestic use of it.