Planning Permission

As a general rule playhouses are treated as temporary structures for the purpose of planning permission and so generally permission is not needed.

Each planning authority has its own rules but general guidelines are

• The structure must be less than 4 metres high to the top of a ridged roof if it is to be beyond 2 metres from a boundary. If it has a flat roof the maximum height should be 3 metres.
• The structure must be less than 2.5 metres high if within 2 metres from the boundary
• The playhouse should be 5 metres away from the dwelling.
• The playhouse must not be sited between the dwelling and the main highway.
• The playhouse does not have a floor area in excess of 30 square metres.
• If the playhouse has a floor area of more than 20 square metres it should be 1 metre from the boundary.
• Platforms above 30cm need planning permission.  We would advise discussing with your local authority what their views are on this rule within the contxt of children's play equipment as views differ within different planning departments: At present technically you need planning permission for a standalone children's slide!  In our experience as long as the proposal is sensible and not adversely affecting the neighbours, planning permission will either not be needed or if it is it will be granted after going through the correct process: We are happy to help further if you woudl liek to discuss this with us.

If your dwelling is listed or in a Conservation Area there maybe local planning differences. A quick phone call to the local planning department should clarify the situation and give peace of mind.

 Follow the link to the official government site on planning permission

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

If possible we are generally able to produce designs that will not need planning permission.

The starting point would be to discuss with the planners either over the phone or in person what you are proposing to do; this can be done with a sketch or image of a similar product, taken from our web site.  After this discussion you will have a feel for what will be required in the design from the planners point of view and remove the need for planning permission and can then either modify your plans to fall within that or go through the planning process.

In our experience planning permission is generally granted on reasonable structures and so although the process can seem daunting if you have a specific idea in your head that you want to see through, the process is straight forward and we are very happy to help.

The actual process is best managed by yourself as you are' the customer' of your local planning authority and will find it easier to have an informal discussion  with them.

The planning process will include filling out a form which is submitted together with a number of key documents

• Drawings of the proposed structure to a specific scale
• Details of the materials to be used within the structure
• Plan views of the location of the structure within your plot 

The drawings that we generally provide give a good idea of how the playhouse will look at be constructed but are sketches and do not provide the detail of information that the planning department require for the application of planning.

We are happy to supply an additional pack which will give you all the key documents that are needed to submit with the planning application for a one off fee of £350