Permitted development for a garage

[malcolm]

I'm planning to build a garage. It's behind the rear wall of a non-listed house in a conservation area so I have the same rules as normal folk. A 6m by 5m garage over 2m from a boundary tends to fall into permitted development for both planning and building regs.

Problem I think I have is I want a utility room close by. The plan below shows two yellow boxes drawn on top of the existing long shed attached to the house. Utility room is attached to the house (and could just be the same shed just shorter if needed).

Is anyone familiar with the permitted development rules? How far the garage should be from the utility room etc. Ideally I would like to build the garage from an oak frame on shallow foundations so it is flexible enough to cope with roots from a nearby willow and won't damage the roots. I would prefer to take the permitted devopment route to avoid thousands of pounds of surveys and the inevitable stalemate between planning who want to protect the tree and building regs who would want me to dig foundations to the center of the earth which might be detrimental to the tree.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Permitted development
E. The provision within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse of—

(a)any building or enclosure, swimming or other pool required for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse as such, or the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of such a building or enclosure; or

(b)a container used for domestic heating purposes for the storage of oil or liquid petroleum gas.

E.1 Development is not permitted by Class E if—

(a)permission to use the dwellinghouse as a dwellinghouse has been granted only by virtue of Class M, N, P or Q of Part 3 of this Schedule (changes of use);
(b)the total area of ground covered by buildings, enclosures and containers within the curtilage (other than the original dwellinghouse) would exceed 50% of the total area of the curtilage (excluding the ground area of the original dwellinghouse);
(c)any part of the building, enclosure, pool or container would be situated on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation of the original dwellinghouse;
(d)the building would have more than a single storey;
(e)the height of the building, enclosure or container would exceed—
(i)4 metres in the case of a building with a dual-pitched roof,
(ii)2.5 metres in the case of a building, enclosure or container within 2 metres of the boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse, or
(iii)3 metres in any other case;
(f)the height of the eaves of the building would exceed 2.5 metres;
(g)the building, enclosure, pool or container would be situated within the curtilage of a listed building;
(h)it would include the construction or provision of a verandah, balcony or raised platform;
(i)it relates to a dwelling or a microwave antenna; or
(j)the capacity of the container would exceed 3,500 litres.

E.2 In the case of any land within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse which is within—
(a)an area of outstanding natural beauty;
(b)the Broads;
(c)a National Park; or
(d)a World Heritage Site,
development is not permitted by Class E if the total area of ground covered by buildings, enclosures, pools and containers situated more than 20 metres from any wall of the dwellinghouse would exceed 10 square metres.

E.3 In the case of any land within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse which is article 2(3) land [a conservation area], development is not permitted by Class E if any part of the building, enclosure, pool or container would be situated on land between a wall forming a side elevation of the dwellinghouse and the boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse.

It looks as if your garage would project beyond the side wall of the house so it wouldn't be permitted development as you are in a conservation area.
Also, however shallow the foundations, digging them is going to involve work to the roots of the tree, and being in a conservation area you would need to notify the local authority.

 

[malcolm]

Thanks Gareth - I think the tree will be an issue, though thinking about it it was the company that wrote the tree survey who previously spoke about minimum distances for building and I never discussed options with the tree officer. I didn't read the side wall information correctly and had assumed it referred to building outwards from the side of the house rather than line of sight. The interactive house is perhaps misleading in that regard.

Building regs turns out to be another issue as permitted development for timber structures is only 15m2 not the normal 30m2. There are fire seperation distances and because of the tree they will likely argue for deeper foundations than would be appropriate close to a tree.

I've ordered a new chassis for my period van and the thought of doing the work inside prompted the latest garage plan drawing. It's a fiddly spot because of the tree. I have planning permission for a garage closer to the road but it looks awful there. More thinking needed.