Fences walls and gates

Fences, Walls and Gates

You will need to apply for planning permission if you wish to erect or add to a fence, wall or gate and:

it would be over 1 metre high and next to a highway used by vehicles (or the footpath of such a highway); or over 2 metres high elsewhere; or
your right to put up or alter fences, walls and gates is removed by an article 4 direction or a planning condition; or
your house is a listed building or in the curtilage of a listed building.
the fence, wall or gate, or any other boundary involved, forms a boundary with a neighbouring listed building or its curtilage.

You will not need to apply for planning permission to take down a fence, wall,or gate, or to alter or improve an existing fence, wall or gate (no matter how high) if you don't increase its height. In a conservation area, however, you might need conservation area consent to take down a fence, wall or gate.

You do not need planning permission for hedges as such, though if a planning condition or a covenant restricts planting (for example, on "open plan" estates, or where a driver's sight line could be blocked) you may need planning permission and/or other consent.

Patios and Driveways

From 1 October 2008 new rules apply for householders wanting to pave over their front gardens.

You will NOT need planning permission if a new driveway uses permeable (or porous) surfacing which allows water to drain through, such as gravel, permeable concrete block paving or porous asphalt, or if the rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally.

If the surface to be covered is more than five square metres planning permission will be needed for laying traditional, impermeable driveways that do not control rainwater running off onto roads.

Elsewhere around your house there are no restrictions on the area of land which you can cover with hard surfaces at, or near, ground level.

However, significant works of embanking or terracing to support a hard surface might need a planning application.

If you live in a listed building, you will need listed building consent for any significant works whether internal or external.

Significant works of embanking or terracing to support a hard surface might need a planning application. Alternatively, an elevated patio or decking, especially if it creates useable space underneath, might be regarded as an extension or garden building, and subject to the appropriate limits. You will also need to apply for planning permission if the hard surface is not to be used for domestic purposes and is to be used instead, for example, for parking a commercial vehicle or for storing goods in connection with a business.

You must obtain the separate approval of the highways department of your council if a new driveway would cross a pavement or verge. You will also need to apply for planning permission if you want to make a new or wider access for your driveway on to a trunk or other classified road. The highways department of your council can tell you if the road falls into this category.

Need for planning permission