Garden Rooms and Planning Permission
Exempted Development
Every house in Ireland is permitted to develop up to 25m² in the back garden without having to endure the sometimes gruelling process of planning permission, subject to certain conditions outlined below.
Cumulative Figure
The first thing to be aware of is that the 25m² is a cumulative figure! Meaning that if you already have a shed or outbuilding in the garden then this will impact the size of the Garden Room that you can build.
For example, if you have a 5m² shed for storage, then you are limited to a further 20m² for your Garden Room. If however, the shed or outbuilding was included in the original planning permission for the house then you are permitted to develop the full 25m².
Garden Space
Another condition of the 25m² exempted development is that there must be a minimum of 25m² of open garden space left after the Garden Room is built.
Height
For a Garden Room with a mono-pitch roof, the external height limit from ground level is 3m. This shouldn’t worry you as Lawn Pods are built to 2.9m and achieve a 2.4m internal floor-to-ceiling height.
For a Garden Room with an ‘A’-Frame, or dual pitch, roof the external height limit from ground level to the ridge is 4m. This allows great additional space and can really change the impression of space in the room. A vaulted ceiling gives the impression of a larger room even if the room footprint is much smaller!
Browse the range of Garden Rooms here
Sightlines
Under Exempted development, the Garden Room should not be visible from the front of the property. You are permitted to build at the back or side of the house, but so long as the facade matches that of the house or you block the sight of the building with high fencing or foliage.
Use Case
Garden Rooms can be used for almost anything, but under exempted development, you are not permitted to use your Garden Room for living purposes or sleeping accommodation. So long as the use case is non-habitable then you are free to build. This means that Granny Flats or overflow accommodation must apply for planning permission before being built.
Goodwill
It is always a good idea to have a chat with your neighbours about your plans to build a Garden Room. Even if it falls under the above conditions for exempted development a little bit of goodwill goes a long way.
The above is Lawn Pod’s interpretation of planning permission regulations. We advise all customers to engage with their local authorities for confirmation.
To get a Free Quote on your dream Lawn Pod, hit the button below or head over to our Gallery page to see what’s possible!
