Services
Landscaping and garden buildings
Hard landscaping and garden buildings, from the base up.
Free no obligation quotes.
What it covers
Patios, garden refurbishments, decking, fencing, log cabins, garden rooms, and sheds on bases.
Garden buildings
Most need no planning permission if they sit behind the front of the house, are single storey, have eaves no higher than 2.5 metres, and stand no taller than 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof or 3 metres otherwise. Within 2 metres of a boundary the limit is 2.5 metres.
They are for use alongside the house, not as a bedroom or a separate home. In the National Park, buildings more than 20 metres from the house are capped at 10 square metres in total.
Building regulations
Under 15 square metres with no sleeping accommodation, normally not needed. From 15 to 30 square metres, the same, if nobody sleeps in it and it is at least 1 metre from the boundary or built mostly of non-combustible materials.
Paving, fences and decking
Paving more than 5 square metres of front garden needs planning permission unless the surface is permeable or drains to a permeable area.
Without planning permission, fences can go up to 1 metre beside a road and 2 metres elsewhere, and decking up to 30 centimetres high. Above that, you need permission.
What you need to know
- Planning
- Usually not needed for garden buildings, fences and low decking, within height and position limits. Stricter in the National Park.
- Building regulations
- Normally not needed for a garden building under 15 square metres that nobody sleeps in.
- Garden rooms
- For use alongside the house, not as a bedroom.
- Front gardens
- Paving over 5 square metres must be permeable, or drain to a lawn or border, unless you have planning permission.
- Party wall
- A notice to next door for a new wall on or at the boundary. Not for a timber fence.
These are the general rules, from GOV.UK and the Planning Portal. Every house is different, so check your own job with the council or building control.
How a job runs
Step 1: Enquire
Ring, or send a few lines about the garden and your postcode.
Step 2: Visit and quote
We come out, look at the garden, and give you a free no obligation quote.
Step 3: Build
Then the groundwork, the build and the finish.
Free no obligation quotes.
The work
Photos from our own jobs.
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Questions about landscaping and garden buildings
Do I need planning permission for a garden room or log cabin?
Usually not, within limits. It must sit behind the front of the house, be single storey, have eaves no higher than 2.5 metres, and be no taller than 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof or 3 metres otherwise. Within 2 metres of a boundary the limit is 2.5 metres. With other buildings it cannot cover more than half the garden.
Does a garden room need building regulations approval?
Under 15 square metres with no sleeping accommodation, normally not. From 15 to 30 square metres, normally not, if nobody sleeps in it and it is either at least 1 metre from any boundary or built substantially of non-combustible materials. Bigger than that, or with a bed in it, and it does.
Can I use a garden room as a bedroom?
Not under permitted development. Outbuildings are for uses that go alongside the house, and the government guidance rules out primary living accommodation such as a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen. Sleeping accommodation also brings building regulations in. For an annexe, talk to the council's planning team first.
Do I need permission to pave my front garden?
Not if you use a permeable surface, or send the water to a lawn or border that soaks it up. Covering more than 5 square metres of front garden with hard paving that drains to the road needs planning permission. A new dropped kerb is a separate request to the highway authority.
How high can my fence be?
Under permitted development, up to 1 metre next to a road used by vehicles or its footpath, and up to 2 metres elsewhere, measured from ground level. Listed buildings, and homes where an article 4 direction or a planning condition removes the right, are different, so check first.
Do I need permission for decking?
Not normally, if it is no more than 30 centimetres above the ground and, with other extensions and buildings, covers no more than half the garden. On designated land such as the National Park, decking at the side of the house needs planning permission, and so does any decking in the grounds of a listed building.
Get a quote
Ask for a free no obligation quote
Ring, or send a few lines about the job and your postcode.