6 Common Questions Answered

Is my garden room a house extension?

A garden room is not a house extension in the usual sense. We don’t design and build garden rooms that are physically connected to your house. This avoids complex building projects and significantly higher costs and disruption.

But we encourage you to consider our garden rooms a great way to extend your house. The extra square footage we create for you adds significant value to the price of your home. You can read more about that here.

We also think one of our installations offers much more than a standard extension. For a much smaller investment, you can enjoy an incredibly flexible and premium space, fully insulated, with electricity, all home comforts, and even complete plumbing, a bathroom and a kitchen.

Isn’t it better to have the space and freedom of your own private sanctuary beyond the noise of a busy house? A place you can get away from it all.

Do I need planning permission for a garden room?

Most of our garden rooms don’t need planning permission. They are typically classed as ‘outbuildings’ to make it simple for you, as long as you have permitted development rights at your property.

You may not have ‘permitted development rights’ if your home is:

• Listed
• In a designated area (e.g An area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) or a conservation area)

We’d advise you to check with your local planning office if you’re unsure.

Do I need planning permission for a garden room?

Most of our garden rooms don’t need planning permission. They are typically classed as ‘outbuildings’ to make it simple for you, as long as you have permitted development rights at your property.

You may not have ‘permitted development rights’ if your home is:

• Listed
• In a designated area (e.g An area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) or a conservation area)

We’d advise you to check with your local planning office if you’re unsure.

When else do you need planning permission?

We can build your garden room without planning permission, as long as:

• Your garden room isn’t in front of your home. If you’ve extended it, the front refers to how it stood on 1 July 1948.
• The total area of all extensions, sheds and outbuildings – including your proposed garden room – must not cover more than 50% of the total area around your house. (As it was when it was first built or on 1 July 1948).
• It’s single-storey and less than 3 metres high (If it’s within 2 metres of your boundary, the maximum height is 2.5 metres.
• Has no verandas, balconies or raised platforms (a platform must not exceed 0.3 metres in height)
• It isn’t self-contained living accommodation.

You can find out more about the planning rules for outbuildings here.

If your planned garden room requires planning permission, we’ll work with you at the design stage to ensure your planning application is improved and you still get the garden room you’re dreaming of.

Do I need building regulations for a garden room?

We know it’s easy to get planning permission and building regulations confused.

Think about planning permission as the rules protecting the landscape and environment. Building regulations are the standards that govern the design and construction of buildings themselves.

You don’t always need building regulations approval for a garden room.

For example –

• If it’s not attached to your main home.
• The floor area is less than 15m².
• It doesn’t include sleeping accommodation.
• It’s at least 1 metre away from any boundary or constructed substantially of non-combustible materials.

A garden room must comply with Building Regulations if you ever plan to sleep in it or use it as a guest house. We’ll also ensure our garden rooms comply if we install an electricity supply, plumbing or kitchen.

Can I use a garden room as a home office?

Absolutely, and this is now one of the most common requests we get from clients. Since the pandemic, there’s been a significant increase in people working flexibly and looking for a quiet area to work in their homes.

The flexibility provided by one of our garden rooms is perfect for all your home-working needs. We use premium materials, including our market-leading structural insulated panels (SIPs) supplied by Premier Sips. These insulation panels will ensure you can use your garden office all year round, even in the coldest months.

Our premium garden room insulation also means your energy costs will be lower in the long term, which easily offsets your investment.

We can install electricity to ensure you’ve got TV screens, internet and the perfect lighting. We can also install plumbing and a kitchen area if needed.

Can I use a garden room as a bedroom?

If you’re planning to use your garden room as a place to live or sleep, it’ll no longer be classed as an ‘outbuilding’, but a dwelling or self-contained unit of accommodation. You’ll need to apply for planning approval, and the building must comply with building regulations. The London Garden Rooms team can help you with that process.

With that in mind, a garden room is a perfect option for an extra guest bedroom, a self-enclosed guesthouse or even a way to get that moody teenager out of the house! Because of its proximity to your house, a garden room could be the answer to supporting an elderly relative – the right mix of independence, but also close to help when needed.

We know how important it is to get a bedroom or guesthouse right, so our design team will work with you at every stage to ensure you get a refined yet comfortable space for you and your guests. That includes all electrical works, full plumbing and even a complete kitchen as required.

Can I put a toilet in my garden room?

The simple answer is yes!

We can fit a full bathroom in any of our garden room installations. The flexibility of our designs means that every London garden room is built around you, however you want to use it.

Any garden room where we install plumbing will comply with building regulations.

You also don’t need to worry about planning permission if your design meets the following criteria:

• The total area of all extensions, sheds and outbuildings – including your proposed garden room – must not cover more than 50% of the total area around your house. (As it was when it was first built or on 1 July 1948).
• It’s single-storey and less than 3 metres high (If it’s within 2 metres of your boundary, the maximum height is 2.5 metres.
• Has no verandas, balconies or raised platforms (a platform must not exceed 0.3 metres in height).
• It isn’t self-contained living accommodation.

If you want a toilet room in your garden room, you will need to plan it with our team in the early design stages. Installing a toilet retrospectively in a garden room can create significant disruption, and extra costs, to your project.

For most garden rooms with a toilet, we’ll connect the plumbing to your home’s existing water and sewage system. We generally need to install two pipes, one for clean water and the second to remove waste.

Our expert team will install the pipes underground, which may mean excavating some of your garden.

Groundwork is one of the largest costs when considering whether a toilet or bathroom is right for your garden room. This is particularly true for a long garden where the garden room is located further away from the house.