Board logo

Permitted development, boundaries and rights of way. What counts?
smart51 - 10/8/14 at 04:46 PM

I'm thinking of building a large shed. I've had a quick look at permitted development and you can build up to your boundary line of the curtilage of your house if your building is made substantially of non combustible materials or you can use wood if you build 1m away from the boundary.

I have a "right of way" at the bottom of my garden which I own and which my neighbours have legal access across to get to their garage. Does anyone on here know if the fence between the garden and the right of way counts as the curtilage boundary for permitted development?

[Edited on 10-8-2014 by smart51]

Sam_68 - 10/8/14 at 05:11 PM

The 'curtilage' to a property is generally what is understood to be the private garden/grounds to the house; It is not necessarily the land within your ownership.

If there is a fence separating your garden and the land within your ownership that serves as an access path to neighbouring properties, then my interpretation would be that the access path lies outside the 'curtilage' of the house and hence the fence forms the boundary so far as Permitted Development rights apply.

...but your best bet is to discuss with your local Planning Department. They may take a more relaxed view than me (and if so, will be able to provide - for a price - a Certificate of Lawful Development).

mark chandler - 10/8/14 at 06:53 PM

I,m putting in a 6m x 4m oak framed shed, called and emailed the local council with sketches who were happy not to see anything beyond this.

I am just over 1m from the neighbours, had a chat with them first off which always eases the process.

At my previous house I was just outside the village building boundary so into countryside planning and would have needed to jump hoops to replace my 4m x 4m shed with a 5m x 5m one so did not bother

Regards Mark

[Edited on 10/8/14 by mark chandler]

loggyboy - 10/8/14 at 07:26 PM

FYI, the 1m regulation for outbuildings is nothing to do with permitted development, its building regulations. Speak to building contol to see where they would class the boundary, I would suggest if its for fire safety they woukd view it as the land you own, regardless of any access rights.

smart51 - 10/8/14 at 07:51 PM

thanks guys. It's probably best to talk to the council to find out what they want to see.

The wife's preferred location is against the neighbour's fence, in which case it will have to be 'made substantially from fireproof material'. Would treated timber suffice or would it have to be masonry? I seem to recall that only the part within 2m of the boundary has to be fireproof, so it could have a timber front and fireproof back and sides.

Sam_68 - 10/8/14 at 08:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
FYI, the 1m regulation for outbuildings is nothing to do with permitted development, its building regulations....


This is true, and you're right - for the purposes of Building Control they will be interested in the legal land ownership boundary, not the curtilage.

...but just to confuse matters, one of the rules of Permitted Development (Planning) is that if you're building within 2 metres of the boundary, the height of the whole building (not just the bit that lies within 2 metres of the boundary!) is limited to a maximum height of 2.5 metres.

With regards to non-combustible materials, treated timber usually won't suffice. We often use Cedral or similar fibre cement cladding as an alternative.

Don't expect the Planners to know anything about Building Regulations, or the Building Control Officers to know anything about Planning rules, incidentally... in a lot of local authorities they barely talk to each other.