A Guide to Building an Outdoor Office
Building an outdoor office can cause lots of questions. Where is the best corner in the garden for your garden office? Are you allowed to use your garden structure room for anything other than a garden office? Does the outdoor office building need planning permission? Here is a handy guide to answer some of your questions so that you can press ahead with your garden office plans.
Adding a Garden Office Outbuilding
Adding a garden office outbuilding will need some planning. It is, however, more straightforward than most people think. It is usual for a garden office plan to take a relatively short amount of time. If the structure is what your neighbours expect of a garden structure, you can likely build the garden office you want.
Planning permission
In most cases, planning permission isn’t required. But are you likely to live in your garden room? Do you expect to have lots of visitors? It’s unwise to build without checking the design guidance rules with your local council. Always double-check with your local planning office once your plans are ready. Most of the time, the building method is accepted, and you can go ahead with your building work.
There may be some rules and exceptions imposed on your plans. It is common to have a height restriction of 2.5m. You may also be required to keep your structure’s wall at a set distance from your property boundary. Talk to the expert planners about your garden room and planning permission. Please don’t rely on gaining retrospective planning permission as it isn’t guaranteed.
Garden Shape and Size
Your garden shape and size will determine your garden room structure. Add the extra finishing touches and choose the size you prefer. There is no such thing as a standard garden room. Always obtain garden outbuilding plans that are tailored specifically to your garden. However, it is nice to research and create your wish list based on other garden rooms you’ve seen and liked as they help you to plan.
What uses can a garden room have?
Your local council will most of the time class a garden room as an ‘incidental’ buildings. So if you’re planning to use yours as a home office, then planning permission requirements are limited and usually not required. You can generally have permission to use your room night and day if you wish to. The exceptions start to arise if you add running water or additional plumbing – even if it’s for an outside tap. You are also unlikely to be allowed to add a bed to use it as a guest room. Again, talk to your planning department. They are likely to have guides online or a phone number for you to contact them.
Contact Us
We supply a range of high quality garden rooms, garden offices and bespoke extensions, contact us for more information. Simply call: 0800 146 995 or fill in our contact form. We cover the whole of Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester and the North West including: Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Chorley, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Morecambe, Preston, Southport and Wigan.
