If your garden room is considered to be a “permitted development”, you may not need planning permission. However, to qualify as a permitted development, your garden room must meet certain requirements, such as:
- The garden room must not take up more than 50% of the area of land around the original house.
- The garden room must not be higher than 2.5 meters
- The garden room must not be used for living accommodation.
If your garden room does not meet these requirements, or if it is not considered to be a permitted development, you will need to apply for planning permission before you can build it.
Most Garden Buildings under 2.5 Metres high do not need ‘Planning Permission’
Garden Rooms are considered to be ‘Permitted Development’ and do NOT require Planning Permission if:
- The building is to be placed less than 2.0m from the boundary of the property the maximum overall height should not exceed 2.5m from existing ground level
- It has an internal floor area of less than 30m2
If you do comply with the above criteria, garden buildings up to an internal floor area of 30 square metres are generally exempt from planning and building regulations (Except when the structure is to be used for sleeping accommodation)
However you would need to apply for planning permission if:
- Your Garden Building stands forward of the principal elevation of your house, fronting the highway?
- Your Garden Building along with other buildings and additions, occupy more than half the area of land around the original house? (When it was first built or as it stood on 1st July 1948)
- Your Garden Room is erected on land designated as a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Conservation Area, World Heritage Site or similar
- Your Garden Building be located within the curtilage of a listed building?
- Your Garden Building is over 30m2 in size
Permitted Development Letter
For peace of mind and further advice we always recommend you check mygov.scot for up to date current planning details.
If you are concerned about planning, it is worth visiting your council with a rough layout of your garden, and a photograph of the Studio you want, because they will often just give you, ‘a letter of permitted development’.