How big can a summer house be without planning permission?

Outbuildings like summer houses are covered by permitted development rights. So, you can generally build them without planning permission – as long as your conservatory is going to be for domestic use, it’s not going to be used as self-contained accommodation, and it’s not too big. So, how big can a

Outbuildings like summer houses are covered by permitted development rights. So, you can generally build them without planning permission – as long as your conservatory is going to be for domestic use, it’s not going to be used as self-contained accommodation, and it’s not too big.

So, how big can a summer house be without planning permission?

• Your summer house mustn’t cover more than half of the garden.

• Your summer house’s footprint can’t be bigger than 30m2

• Its eaves height has to be below 2.5m. That means a summer house with a flat roof has to be below 2.5m in total, while a summer house with a pent roof can have a total height of up to 3m and a summer house with an apex roof can be up to 4m high in total.

• If your summer house is going to be built within 2m of your property’s boundary, you’ll have to make sure it’s no more than 2.5m tall, no matter what kind of roof it has.

• If your home is listed or in a conservation area, you may have to keep your summer house below 10m3 to avoid planning permission.

Still not sure if your plans fall under permitted development rights? It’s always worth checking with your local authority just in case – you can find your local council on the GOV.UK website.