Buildings & Structures: If your new building will have a volume of more than 10 cubic metres (e.g. roughly 6 ft. square by 7.5 ft. tall) Will it come within 5 metres of your house? Is your house a Listed Building?
Do you live in a Conservation Area or in the Cranborne Chase or Dorset Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty?
If you have answered ‘YES’ to question 1, you need to go to the guide on House Extensions, even though your building or structure is going to be free-standing. If you have answered ‘YES’ to either question 2 or 3, then you will need planning permission.
Click here to find out how to make a planning application.
Now answer these questions: Do you live in a flat?
Will any part of the proposed building or structure be nearer to a public road, footpath, bridleway or byway than your house is, AND will it be less than 20 metres from the road, footpath, etc? Will more than half the land round your house be covered by the proposed new structure and any existing extensions, buildings or structures? Will the structure be within 2 metres of the boundary of your garden AND will it be more than 4 metres high measured from the ground level immediately next to it? (If the ground is uneven, measure from the highest part of the surface.)
Will the proposed building or structure be used for anything other than domestic purposes?
Will the new building contain primary accommodation? i.e. bedrooms, living room, kitchen. Has the Council removed your ‘Permitted Development Rights’? If you have answered ‘YES’ to any of the questions, then you will need planning permission. Click here to find out how to make a planning application. You will need planning permission if: You want to build outside your garden, for example on agricultural land; or You want to incorporate agricultural land into your garden. Fuel Storage Tanks 11. Is the proposed storage tank for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or any liquid fuel other than domestic heating oil ? Will it exceed 3,500 litres in capacity ? Will the highest part of the oil storage tank be more than 3 metres above the ground ? If you have answered ‘YES’ to any of these questions then you will need planning permission for your storage tank.
Click here to find out how to make a planning application. Caravans and Mobile Homes 14. Is your house a Listed Building? Yes / No Do you live in a Conservation Area or in the Cranborne Chase or Dorset Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty? Is the caravan/mobile home being lived in by someone completely independently from the main house? Is the caravan/mobile home fixed to the ground? i.e. it is attached to the ground and to services such as electricity, water, septic. If you have answered ‘YES’ to these questions then you will need planning permission to site your caravan or mobile home. This guide is only intended as an outline of the regulations.
It is not definitive and may be subject to changes in legislation. If you still have doubts or questions about whether you need to apply for planning permission, then please consult the Planning department. A ‘caravan’ is defined in s.29 of the Caravan Sites & Control of Development Act 1960 as “any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another..”.
The Mobile Homes Act 1968 establishes that a ‘Twin Unit’ mobile home must also conform to certain dimensional and structural requirements. A caravan may be parked temporarily (in the same manner as a car) within the curtilage of a domestic property without the need for planning permission, unless there are limiting conditions applied when the house was built. This is more commonplace in modern housing estates.
A caravan may also be used in a manner ancillary to the residential property; that is, in addition to the use of the house, but not as someone’s separate dwelling. You can use a caravan as, say, a granny annex, but it must not become someone’s “only or main residence”. There must remain a relationship between the caravan and the house, so, for example, meals could be taken in the house.
Use the caravan simply in the manner of an extra room / bedroom. Make sure it remains moveable. Check to make sure your property deeds do not restrict this permitted development right; particularly on more modern estates or where the council has issued an Article 4 Direction – common in Conservation Areas.