General Chat

The house next door to me is a council house and in April we had new neighbours, about 3 weeks ago they had huge shed erected (4x4 metres) which filled the whole of one side of the garden , only one member of the family speaks English and he then told us they were going to erect a summer house on our side of the garden I did say I didn't want it attached to the wall as it's my garage wall and only single cavity,he told me no it was going to be away from my wall, but today it was put up the chaps putting it up said originally it had been intended to attach it to my garage wall by the time I had returned from shopping it was all up and finished and it's about 2 inches from my wall and the roof felt touches my wall with no guttering so rain will just pour down my wall , this one also fills the whole side of the garden ,I tried the planning and local council office but got nowhere, did speak to one of the neighbours and it seems she was told they were going to put up a shed 6x4 ft, as well as being an eyesore they are a fire hazard,does anyone know if sheds this size should have planning permission thanks pam

Pretty sure if it´s a local authority property they need the landlord´s permission to make alterations because if anything goes wrong with them, the LA won´t accept responsibility for the repair.
I had to get permission to put a shower in my LA property & had to undertake to remove it when I left.
Try the Housing Dept rather than Planning.

If it is wooden I wouldn't had thought you needed planning permission....I know some conservatories do not need them

Your local authority should have been able to advise you, they have a legal duty to ensure planning regulations are being adhered to so you could have a word with your local councillor about that.

Found this but not sure if it will help you in any way, maybe your local CAB could offer some advice.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/outbuildings

There is a site called " Planning Portal" which should tell you all you need o know.

Much depends on the height of the building.

A shed 12 foot square is big enough for somebody to sleep in. What do they intend doing with a shed that size if they also have other wooden buildings in the garden.

You say you spoke to the planning authority of the council and you insinuated they were not interested. Or you say you got nowhere. I don't know how things work in Wales (I think that is where you are Pam), Is it likely to be a housing association house? If so you need to contact them rather than the council. Can you take a photo looking down on the buildings. You could mention that if the water off the roof damages your wall you will be taking action against the landlord.

Monday, 1 September 2008
Is planning permission required for a garden shed?

Generally speaking in England and Wales planning permission is not required to put up a shed in your garden as long as you follow these rules:

Your shed must not cover more than half of the area of your garden.

If the shed is built out of a combustible material for example wood, then it should be at least 2 metres away from your house.

No point should be less than one metre away from any boundary.

It is only used for domestic purposes, it should not contain any sleeping accommodation and the floor area does not exceed 15 square metres.

It can be no more than 3m in height for a flat roof, or 4m for a ridged roof.

No part projects beyond any wall of the house that faces any highway.

The shed is for use only by those who occupy the house.


For more information about planning permission please click on the following link - http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/genpub/en/1115315233173.html

I would go back to the council and check the above out.

This is from the Building Regulations bit of the Planning Portal site and applies to England. If you are, as Ann says, in Wales, you need to check with the Council. I don't suppose they are very different, if at all.


Outbuildings are considered to be permitted development, not needing planning permission, subject to the following limits and conditions:

No outbuilding on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation.
Outbuildings and garages to be single storey with maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of four metres with a dual pitched roof or three metres for any other roof.
Maximum height of 2.5 metres in the case of a building, enclosure or container within two metres of a boundary of the curtilage of the dwellinghouse.
No verandas, balconies or raised platforms.
No more than half the area of land around the "original house"* would be covered by additions or other buildings.

Remember remember the 5 November ...

Thanks so much everyone seems as they are so big and so very close to the house may require planning permission, although seems they have told another neighbour they are going to use it as a prayer rooms pam

If they are council tenents, they will have been given info about what they can & can´t do to the property & will have signed an agreement.
Prayer room my .......... ;-)

Planning permission or not, they are contravening the Building Regulations.

I would ring the Council in the morning, speak to someone concerned with Building Regs and make a complaint.

Good Luck! :-( :-(

Oh dear just seen them putting sofas in one of the sheds

My shed is 16'x8'. I asked an officer from the housing assoc to come and see what I was going to do which it would seem was more than I needed to do.

If it is within planning requirements they are happy for a shed to be built, especialy a well built one.

There are few regulations to prevent it being built but you might find they are in contravention of their tenancy if they sub-let the shed and probably other regulations.

Cant see building a possible mosque in a garden would be allowed...........

Hello just seen this your best to get in touch with cab .they have legal advisers on most things .take photos of the shed with you .hope you can get help Barbra

So its not one shed but two they have put up .

Would think the one close to your garage wall wouldnt be allowed that close because they arent giving you room for any maintenance of your property .

When we moved into this house in the 1960,s as a new build the back gardens had ranch style fences and one of the parts of the buying contract was we had to allow neighbours access to our garden in order for them to do maintenance to their fence and likewise we had right of access to the other neighbours garden to maintain ours.

The housing dept of the council should be willing to give you advice on the problem not fob you off saying its not their concern

Good Luck with your enquiries regarding your new neighbours.

We encountered something similar when a young South African couple moved into the road. Their culture did not sit comfortably with our locality and we were all called "racists" by the two of them, when we are all nothing of the sort.

Several of us made written complaints about high fencing (made out of old rough pallets) but we found that we, who had lived together harmoniously for a great number of years were ignored and the Officials favoured the newcomers.

I wish you all the best in your quest to stand up for your rights and do sincerely hope that you are treated better than us and our friendly neighbours were.

The young couple no longer speak to anyone and I feel we are "invisible" not a nice feeling but it's their choice. We do have Polish people who rent two houses and are very pleasant and friendly and have happily fitted into our village life.

It is so easy for people of other cultures to shout racist when all it is is an argument about something affecting our way of life. I get very cross when authority (councils etc) don't do anything for fear of being called racist. When it comes to rules and regulations we should all be equal refardless of colour or origin.