Planning permission checker: Wales
Your shed, cabin, summerhouse or garden sauna against the outbuilding rules for Wales; each result names its paragraph.
Result for Wales
Likely permitted development
11 of 11 rules within the limits
Building Regulations: exempt
Schedule 2, Class 6, para 3
- Within the rules: Height 2.4 m, within 2 m of the boundary: limit 2.5 m E.1(f) Limit 2.5 m You 2.4 m
- Within the rules: Eaves 2 m: limit 2.5 m E.1(g) Limit 2.5 m You 2 m
- Within the rules: Single storey E.1(d)
- Within the rules: Not beyond the principal elevation E.1(b)
- Within the rules: Not too close to a road beside the house E.1(c)
- Within the rules: Not beside the house in a conservation area or similar protected area E.2(b)
- Within the rules: Development covers no more than 50% of the curtilage E.1(a)
- Within the rules: Not within the curtilage of a listed building E.1(i)
- Within the rules: No protected-area limit exceeded E.2(a)
- Within the rules: No veranda, balcony or platform over 30 cm E.1(j)
- Within the rules: Use incidental to the house E
All 342 listed garden buildings that state a height likely need no planning permission in Wales even close to the boundary, going by their height and eaves (height up to 2.5 m within 2 m).
Section: house, garden building and boundary
Drawn to scale from your height and eaves; the distance to the boundary follows your answer, the dashed line is the height limit that applies.
No part may be higher than 2.5 metres within 2 metres of the boundary of the curtilage.
E.1(f)
This is a check against the national rules, not legal advice. Your council may have removed permitted development rights for your area or your house. If in doubt, ask your local planning authority before you build.
Rules for outbuildings in Wales
From Class E of Part 1, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, in the version that applies in Wales. A building that meets every condition needs no planning application.
| Rule | Paragraph |
|---|---|
| No part may be higher than 2.5 metres within 2 metres of the boundary of the curtilage. | E.1(f) |
| No part of a building, enclosure, pool or container within 2 metres of the house may be higher than 1.5 metres. | E.1(h) |
| Height must not exceed 4 metres for a building with a roof with more than one pitch. | E.1(e)(i) |
| Height must not exceed 3 metres in any other case. | E.1(e)(ii) |
| Eaves height, measured at any point along the eaves, must not exceed 2.5 metres. | E.1(g) |
| The building must have no more than one storey. | E.1(d) |
| Buildings, enclosures, raised platforms, pools and containers (other than the original house) must not cover more than 50% of the curtilage, excluding the ground area of the original house. | E.1(a) |
| No part may extend beyond a wall in the principal elevation of the original house. | E.1(b) |
| Beside the house, no part may be nearer to the highway than the side wall nearest the highway or a point 5 metres from the highway, whichever is nearer to the highway. | E.1(c) |
| On article 1(5) land (a National Park, an area of outstanding natural beauty, a conservation area, an area specified for the purposes of section 41(3) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 or the Broads) or in a World Heritage Site: no part may be on land between a wall in a side elevation of the house and the section of the boundary that faces that wall. | E.2(b) |
| No veranda, balcony or raised platform with any part more than 30 centimetres above the ground below it. | E.1(j) |
| Not permitted within the curtilage of a listed building. | E.1(i) |
| On article 1(5) land (National Parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, conservation areas and others) or in a World Heritage Site: buildings, enclosures, pools and containers more than 20 metres from any wall of the house must not cover more than 10 square metres in total. | E.2(a) |
| The building must be required for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the house (so not a separate dwelling). | E |
Building Regulations
Planning permission and Building Regulations are separate. In England and Wales, Schedule 2 of the Building Regulations 2010 exempts small detached buildings:
| Exemption | Paragraph |
|---|---|
| A detached building with a floor area of not more than 15 m² and no sleeping accommodation is exempt. | Schedule 2, Class 6, para 3 |
| A detached single-storey building of not more than 30 m² with no sleeping accommodation is exempt if no point is less than 1 metre from the boundary, or if it is built substantially of non-combustible material. | Schedule 2, Class 6, para 1 |
What is different in Wales
- Unlike England, Wales limits anything within 2 m of the house to 1.5 m in height (E.1(h)), and the paragraph names pools as well as buildings, so it can apply to a hot tub placed next to the house.
- In Wales the 30 cm limit covers a veranda and a balcony as well as a raised platform: none may have any part more than 30 cm above the ground directly below it (E.1(j)).
Other nations
Each nation of the UK has its own order for permitted development (all four side by side). Near the boundary:
- England: height up to 2.5 m within 2 m of the boundary (Class E, E.1(e)(ii))
- Scotland: height up to 2.5 m within 1 m of the boundary (Class 3A, 3A(2)(e))
- Northern Ireland: eaves up to 2.5 m within 2 m of the boundary (Class D, D.1(d))
Buildings likely fine close to the boundary in Wales: garden building finder (filter "Planning permission"). Garden saunas by power supply: sauna finder.