Garden room - Granny Flat planning

CodeJACK

I'm looking for advice on whether or not I should even bother seeking planning to put a livable garden room at the end of my ~300sqm garden in Walkinstown?


Are these generally denied regardless of practicality?


The main house only has one bathroom upstairs and in a few years, Id like it to be a place that elderly parents would like to come stay with us and in the mean time, its primary purpose would be a home office.


The garden needs drainage sorted as it holds water too much in these days of bad weather, so any recommendations for an engineer/planner that could advise me would be great


Thanks

DOCARCH

CodeJACK wrote: »

I'm looking for advice on whether or not I should even bother seeking planning to put a livable garden room at the end of my ~300sqm garden in Walkinstown?

Very unlikely to be granted planning permission, in my opinion, as a separate structure.

seamus

They're not generally denied, but they may be subject to restrictions if the planning application is granted. Local authorities generally don't want people building complete separate living spaces in their back gardens as they could be later rented out or sold.

Restrictions imposed might include a requirement to link the garden room to the main house, or that cooking facilities are not included - in other words to ensure that the room is dependent/ancillary to the main property.

I'd first be inclined to have a look at what 25sq.m. gets you. It's a fair chunk of building if all you need is a bedroom, bathroom and living room. If you want more then you can go for outline planning permission to see what's possible in principle.

DOCARCH

seamus wrote: »

They're not generally denied...

That's a confusing response to what the OP actually asked.

What the OP is proposing/suggesting would be very unlikely to be granted planning permission.

If a 'granny flat' is directly connected to the house, then yes, it is likely to be granted planning permission, with the restriction it can only be occupied by a family member.

Calahonda52

DOCARCH wrote: »

That's a confusing response to what the OP actually asked.

What the OP is proposing/suggesting would be very unlikely to be granted planning permission.

If a 'granny flat' is directly connected to the house, then yes, it is likely to be granted planning permission, with the restriction it can only be occupied by a family member.

plus IIRC at least for Fingal, a shared entrance

CodeJACK

DOCARCH wrote: »

If a 'granny flat' is directly connected to the house, then yes, it is likely to be granted planning permission, with the restriction it can only be occupied by a family member.

Thank you, this is the bit that I wish was clearer in the research I was doing.


There is really no point in attaching to the existing as an extension would be preferable although 10x the price at least.


Given the space I have to work with, I'd like to go slightly bigger than 25sqm but I understand now that the planning process to achieve this would be a waste of time/money.


I'll continue with trying to find someone to asses the drainage and then get a slab in place with sewer and elec connections to fit a small loo in a 25sqm garden room.

CodeJACK

Calahonda52 wrote: »

plus IIRC at least for Fingal, a shared entrance

Yeah, there is no chance if that as there is a garage to the side of the house and no other access to the garden at the rear. The garage is on the original plans from the 50s so I still have my 25sqm allowance.

CodeJACK

Last query on the planning....

The 25sqm is on the internal walls... if the roof extends to cover an open veranda, is this OK or is the veranda/deck space included in the 25sqm?

DOCARCH

CodeJACK wrote: »

Last query on the planning....

The 25sqm is on the internal walls... if the roof extends to cover an open veranda, is this OK or is the veranda/deck space included in the 25sqm?

Just internal walls.

Just bear in mind that if you have any other structure....like a garden shed....the area of that has to be deducted from the 25 m.sq. (....or get rid of the shed).

Gumbo

CodeJACK wrote: »

Thank you, this is the bit that I wish was clearer in the research I was doing.


There is really no point in attaching to the existing as an extension would be preferable although 10x the price at least.


Given the space I have to work with, I'd like to go slightly bigger than 25sqm but I understand now that the planning process to achieve this would be a waste of time/money.


I'll continue with trying to find someone to asses the drainage and then get a slab in place with sewer and elec connections to fit a small loo in a 25sqm garden room.

1. Why would an extension be 10x the price? They would both have to be built to the same regulations so this makes no sense.

2. Planning will be for a shed. It will be conditioned that no human habitation occurs.

Gumbo

CodeJACK wrote: »

Last query on the planning....

The 25sqm is on the internal walls... if the roof extends to cover an open veranda, is this OK or is the veranda/deck space included in the 25sqm?

Technically a veranda would count towards the 25 Sq. M. So you’d have to reduce one or both to a total of 25 Sq. M.

CodeJACK

Gumbo wrote: »

1. Why would an extension be 10x the price? They would both have to be built to the same regulations so this makes no sense.

2. Planning will be for a shed. It will be conditioned that no human habitation occurs.

Gumbo wrote: »

Technically a veranda would count towards the 25 Sq. M. So you’d have to reduce one or both to a total of 25 Sq. M.

An extensions when we prurchased the place was ball parked at 150k by two builders. 10x was a flippant number so let me change that to "a crap load more".


A garden room with foundation and services could be done by me as a project (I wouldn't do an extension). Im looking at prices now of less than 20k all in and thats with someone doing services that need certified.


This is what I was going to do but if the veranda is included then I'll have to go smaller but it'll be even cheaper overall. Just a shame I cant use the space better.
https://www.timberkitbuildings.ie/log-cabins/watford-log-cabin-5-40m-x-5-40m/

Why would a regulation make two different solutions cost the same? Surely that's called racketeering?

Gumbo

CodeJACK wrote: »

An extensions when we prurchased the place was ball parked at 150k by two builders. 10x was a flippant number so let me change that to "a crap load more".


A garden room with foundation and services could be done by me as a project (I wouldn't do an extension). Im looking at prices now of less than 20k all in and thats with someone doing services that need certified.


This is what I was going to do but if the veranda is included then I'll have to go smaller but it'll be even cheaper overall. Just a shame I cant use the space better.
https://www.timberkitbuildings.ie/log-cabins/watford-log-cabin-5-40m-x-5-40m/

Why would a regulation make two different solutions cost the same? Surely that's called racketeering?

Agh, your comparing the cost of an extension to the cost of a garden room/shed. The extension needs to meet building regulations, the shed doesn't.

But your OP stated you wanted a livable Garden Room, so by livable i assumed you meant up to current Regulations.

CodeJACK

Gumbo wrote: »

Agh, your comparing the cost of an extension to the cost of a garden room/shed. The extension needs to meet building regulations, the shed doesn't.

But your OP stated you wanted a livable Garden Room, so by livable i assumed you meant up to current Regulations.

Yeah, so as much as I'd like it to be livable, from a regulation perspective, it cant be because its not connected to the main building. So yes, I want a shed with the option of sleeping in it the odd time. From this thread, I learned this is not possible so It'll just be a fancy shed.

ElderWanderer

CodeJACK wrote: »

Last query on the planning....

The 25sqm is on the internal walls... if the roof extends to cover an open veranda, is this OK or is the veranda/deck space included in the 25sqm?

The 25 square metres is for the entire area, not floor area. SI 600/2001, Schedule 2, Class 3 is the relevant exemption. "2. The total area of such structures constructed... exceed 25 square metres."

Class 1 is an extension "...the floor area of any such extension shall not exceed 40 square metres"

So your available floor area is less than 25sq.m- say 20m outside perimeter, with some insulation etc probably minimum 200mm thick walls, you're looking at 21sq.m floor area. If you have a veranda, that reduces it even further under the same class 3 exemption, as would any other shed etc already in your garden.

Then again, if you're using it as a granny flat it's not exempted as class 3 states "....The structure shall not be used for human habitation ...." so if you're building a granny flat at the end of your garden you're going to be breaching planning laws anyway, and what's one more, I guess....

If want to comply with planning laws and don't object to having the office/granny flat/whatever close-ish to the house, you could always connect it to the house with a corridor. This would turn it right back into a domestic extension, the exemption would be based on floor (not total) area, and your veranda would be from separate 25sq.m shed etc allowance. A corridor 5m long & 1.5 m wide internally (for example) would still leave you with 32.5 sq.m floor area to play with, which could include a door onto the veranda.

But (as already said) an extension would have to comply with building regulations, and that's definitely going to cost way way more than getting a fancified garden shed, plonking it in the garden, and calling it an office/guest bedroom.