What needs planning permission and what doesnt?

[Lord_Kokain]

We recently moved into our own house and, as such, my father is always thinking of doing this and that around(he is a builder btw). We got a small area between the back part of our house and our neighbor's house, counted as part of the garden which my father is thinking of covering so it wont at least rain in there and we could leave stuff. Now if this was to involve some sort of bricklaying, I would be certain that we need a permission for it as we need permission for any major building work. However, its nothing as fundamental as that and Im not sure if its even gotta touch the neighbor's house. The problem, however, is that my local council says nothing about in what cases we need to apply for permission and in what we dont. I also phoned them up and tried to tell them what we had in mind but the person over the phone didnt bother hearing about it, interrupted me and said the usual i.e. if we plan to do an extension/alteration, we need to hire an architect and send plans along with the application to assess if we can do it...but does that count as extension at all? This whole thing sounds a bit bureaucratic to me.

 

[beamer]

If it really is just chucking up a roof on poles, and it won't cause any danger to neighbours, I would be tempted to put it up and see what happens. This acid test in most of these situations; would you find it acceptable if the neighbour did the same on their land - if your honest answer is yes, then go ahead.

Worst case scenario, you will be required to demolish it - and if it isn't a substantial erection, then that won't be considered a major loss.

 

[Glaucus]

here you go...

Buildings separated from the house.

You will not need to apply for the erection of sheds, summer houses, green houses, swimming pools, ponds, sauna cabins, tennis courts etc unless.......

You want to put up a building which is nearer to the highway than any part of the house.

More than half the area of your land is then covered by additions or buildings.

The addition or structure is to be used for anything other than domestic use.

The building is more than 3 metres high. (4 metres with a ridged roof).

The volume exceeds 10 cubic metres and is a listed building or is in any of the restricted areas. (see above)

 

[Usel]

In Suffolk you can build anything upto 30sq.m and that includes garages, carports, covered yards, porchs or conservatories.

The square meter coverage can change depending on you local authorities which for me is mid-suffolk district council and all the info is on their website.

So google your local authorites website and it will tell you there.

Edit: You also need to check your paper work on your house to make sure there isn't a restrictive covenants on your property.

 

[Lord_Kokain]

Thanks for the responses,guys!

Well, no, it doesnt bother my neighbors whatsoever and its not a solid construction. Its basically aimed at stopping the rain over there so we could leave maybe laundry, bycicles etc. So Im guessing we gonna go for it.