By Amy Hanlon
Permitted development rules exist in Scotland to help homeowners avoid the costs and inconvenience of planning permission. These rules apply to certain types of small building projects and provided you comply with them, you can avoid any red tape or admin.
What can I build under permitted development?
Permitted development rules apply to projects such as ancillary buildings like sheds, garages and greenhouses, porches, decking, access ramps, and even extensions depending on their size and scope.
How do I know if my project follows these rules?
The Scottish Government website has a range of resources to help you determine whether or not your project is eligible. These resources are pretty dry and can be difficult to navigate, but all the necessary information is online.
Your contractor(s) should be able to advise you on whether or not you will need planning permission. If you’re carrying out these works by yourself make sure you fully understand whether permitted development applies or whether you will need planning permission. As the homeowner, it’s your responsibility to make sure that you follow all the relevant rules.
If you’re planning a shed, garage or garden room, we have a handy downloadable checklist to help you decide whether or not you need planning permission. This general guide will start you off. You should contact your timber building company for help if you have any additional questions.
When do permitted development rules not apply?
There are some rules which apply to all permitted development projects. If your plans don’t comply with these rules you will most likely need planning permission.
Permitted development does not apply when:
- You’re using the property for business purposes.
- Your property or land is owned by more than one party.
- You live in a listed building or in a conservation area.
- There’s an Article 4 direction in place for your property.
Why do business premises need planning permission?
Planning permission deals with the impact that a project has on its environment. This includes the aesthetic impact but also covers the impact it will have on other people nearby.
Establishing business premises in a residential area may increase traffic and parking requirements. This covers both customer traffic, deliveries and company vehicles. Your business may also be noisy or produce large amounts of waste. These factors would impact your neighbours and the immediate area around your business.
Because there are so many different types of businesses and different types of potential impacts, there are separate rules that govern business premises. For this reason, permitted development rights only apply to homes.
What if you want a home office that you also use for leisure purposes? This doesn’t count as business premises and permitted development rights will often apply for these buildings.
Will I need planning permission if my home is shared with other people?
In shared properties like tenements or houses split into flats, any building projects you carry out will affect your neighbours. Because of this, permitted development rules don’t apply in these cases. Some allowances exist for certain types of building projects in shared properties, but these follow different rules. In the vast majority of cases permitted development will not apply.
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Does permitted development apply to listed buildings or conservation areas?
There are more than 600 conservation areas in Scotland and more than 47,000 listed buildings. If your home falls into either category, permitted development rules do not apply. You can check with your local authority to see if your home is in a conservation area. There’s also an interactive map showing all of the conservation areas in Scotland.
It is still possible to carry out small building projects in conservation areas and listed properties, but you’ll need planning permission for these projects. Your project will only be given planning permission if your local council decides it won’t harm the character or appearance of the area you’re in. If your entire neighbourhood is sandstone mansions, a big plastic shed probably isn’t going to cut it.
Do Article 4 directions cancel out permitted development?
Local councils can also apply Article 4 directions. These directions remove permitted development rights from a property or area. While they apply to conservation areas and listed buildings they’re also applied in certain other cases.
To enforce an Article 4 direction, your local authority must advertise this decision in public when it’s first introduced. If you’re buying a house the estate agent or seller should let you know that the direction is in place. As with conservation areas and listed properties, any building projects you have will need planning permission if you live in an area that’s subject to an Article 4 direction.
What is permitted development?
Here at Gillies & Mackay, the vast majority of our sheds, garages and garden rooms fall under permitted development rules. If you do need planning permission for your garden building we offer an application service and have a 98% success rate with this. So if your worries about red tape, admin and forms are getting in the way of your Sheddie dreams, worry no more. We’ve got you!
And if you need a hand getting those dreams in order you can book in for a no-obligation consultation. All this takes is some time, and if you’re not close to our Show Area in Errol, we can even carry out consultations over the phone or via video call. Let us answer all your questions with a dedicated appointment and we can get your garden building project up and running!
