Garden & Landscaping
472 sources in the library on garden & landscaping, 40 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 1 of 12.
- very strong RN-CLRZLV cited
Court of Appeal (The National Archives, Find Case Law)
Court of Appeal judgment holding that encroaching knotweed rhizomes are an actionable private nuisance because they interfere with the use and amenity of the neighbouring land.
Cited in Japanese Knotweed: Removal Cost, Mortgages & Your Rights.
- very strong RN-GZ8J8G cited
Department for Communities and Local Government
DCLG circular letter of 13 May 2013 to local authority chief executives and heads of building control, issued after a child was killed by the collapse of a poorly constructed wall. Applies to freestanding boundary and retaining walls in England. States that the Department has previously considered extending the scope of the Building Regulations to apply to freestanding walls and has decided not to do so, and that amending the Regulations would in any case have little or no impact on walls already in place. Points to Planning Portal guidance for wall design, construction and maintenance, notes that walls between adjoining properties may fall under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and confirms that where a structure is dangerous a local authority has powers under sections 77 and 78 of the Building Act 1984 to remove the danger. Annex A lists further guidance publications.
Cited in Garden & Retaining Walls: Cost & Build.
- very strong RN-DHZ7JB cited
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Defra and HSE press release announcing the ban on outdoor use of metaldehyde slug pellets. It settles that the ban covers Great Britain and took effect from the end of March 2022.
Cited in How to Get Your Garden Ready For Spring.
- very strong RN-O8IUHG cited
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Animal and Plant Health Agency
Defra and APHA guidance on listed invasive alien plants. It lists water hyacinth (listed 3 August 2016) and says listed plants must not be imported, kept, sold, grown or allowed to reproduce.
Cited in How to Maintain Pond.
- very strong RN-6RFQX1 cited
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (GOV.UK)
Planning Practice Guidance on pre-application engagement. It says councils may charge for pre-application advice, capped at cost, and are strongly encouraged to offer a basic free service.
Cited in Garden Steps & Sloping Gardens, Planning Consultants: When They're Worth the Fee.
- very strong RN-4SL7VQ cited
Environment Agency
Environment Agency guidance on water resources licences in England. It says a full abstraction licence is needed for most abstraction over 20 cubic metres a day, and an impounding licence to create a sluice, weir or dam.
Cited in How to Maintain Pond.
- very strong RN-D783N2 cited
Environment Agency
Environment Agency guidance on water abstraction licensing; it sets the 20 cubic metres a day threshold.
Cited in How to Build Pond.
- very strong RN-YW0MX4 cited
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency's guide to when a water discharge activity or groundwater activity permit is needed, last updated 20 April 2026, and the check to make before piping garden or driveway water anywhere other than a sewer. A permit is required to discharge liquid effluent or waste water to surface waters - rivers, streams, estuaries, lakes, canals and coastal waters - or to groundwater, which includes discharging treated sewage through an infiltration system. Waste water is defined broadly to include poisonous, noxious or polluting matter as well as trade or sewage effluent. The exemptions are what matter for domestic landscaping: discharging uncontaminated water such as clean rainwater from roofs to surface water needs no permit, nor does uncontaminated water from small hardstanding areas or public roads passed through oil separators; certain low-risk groundwater activities, discharges to enclosed lakes and ponds meeting set criteria, and domestic sewage meeting the general binding rules are also exempt. Volume bands used to select the application form are up to 15 cubic metres a day to ground and up to 20 cubic metres a day to surface water; these are form categories, not blanket exemptions.
Cited in Swimming Pond Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-3M56AB cited
Environment Agency
The permit regime that catches garden and landscaping work close to water, last updated 11 March 2025. A flood risk activity permit is needed for work on or near a main river, on or near a flood defence structure, or in a flood plain or near sea defences. The buffer distances are the operative figures: within 8 metres of the bank of an ordinary main river, 16 metres of the bank of a tidal main river, 16 metres of a sea defence structure, and 8 metres of a flood defence structure, or 16 metres where that defence is tidal. Some low-risk activities can instead be registered as exempt: registration is free but must be completed before work starts. Doing the work without a permit or registered exemption is an offence. The Environment Agency aims to determine a standard application in about 2 months, or around 4 months where several activities are combined. Fees are set out in the separate environmental permits charging guidance. Note this sits alongside, not instead of, ordinary watercourse consent from the lead local flood authority for smaller ditches and streams.
Cited in How to Build Pond, How to Maintain Pond.
- very strong RN-K7B13K cited
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency's general binding rules for a small sewage discharge to ground, last updated 23 July 2026 - the rules a drainage field in a garden must satisfy, and the reason a garden layout is often constrained before a single slab is laid. The volume limit is 2 cubic metres (2,000 litres) or less a day. An environmental permit is needed instead of relying on the rules where: the discharge exceeds 2,000 litres a day to ground; the discharge point is in a groundwater source protection zone 1; the discharge is in or within 50 metres of an ancient woodland, special area of conservation, special protection area, Ramsar wetland or biological SSSI; a new discharge started after 2 October 2023 is within 50 metres of another exempt small sewage discharge; or a new discharge shares an outlet with existing discharges whose combined volume exceeds 2,000 litres a day. The system must be designed and installed to BS 6297:2007, which carries the siting distances and drainage field design. Engineered ground used for a drainage field must achieve a minimum percolation value (Vp) of 15.
Cited in Barn & Outbuilding Conversions: Feasibility & Cost, Outdoor Shower Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-YEX4Y9 cited
Environment Agency
Environment Agency guidance for watercourse owners; it names the lead local flood authority or internal drainage board as the authority for non-main rivers.
Cited in How to Build Pond.
- very strong RN-AQYZUU cited
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency's standing advice for flood risk assessments, last updated 28 May 2026. It sets the design flood standards to assess against: 1 in 100 annual probability plus a climate change allowance for river flooding, 1 in 200 annual probability plus climate change for tidal flooding, and 1 in 100 annual probability plus climate change for surface water. Assessments are required for development in Flood Zones 2 and 3; the standing advice route (rather than a direct EA consultation) covers 'more vulnerable', 'less vulnerable' and 'water compatible' uses, excluding certain waste and water facilities. A minor extension is defined as a householder or non-domestic extension with a floor space of no more than 250 square metres, which follows a streamlined route. The surface water section requires a sustainable drainage strategy complying with the national standards for sustainable drainage systems and points designers to the CIRIA SuDS Manual. This is the page that decides whether a patio, driveway or garden building raises a flood-risk objection.
Cited in Flood Risk & Renovating: What to Check.
- very strong RN-H3NRHT cited
Environment Agency and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (gov.uk)
The official position that corrects the common belief that having knotweed is itself illegal. You do not legally have to remove Japanese knotweed from your land unless it is causing a nuisance, but you can be prosecuted for causing it to spread into the wild. Soil or plant material contaminated with non-native and invasive plants like Japanese knotweed can be classified as controlled waste, which brings in the requirement to use a registered waste carrier and a permitted disposal facility, and this is the reason excavation and off-site disposal is the most expensive treatment option. The guidance covers four invasive knotweed species: Japanese knotweed, dwarf knotweed, giant knotweed and Bohemian or hybrid knotweed, so a note should not treat Japanese knotweed as the only regulated variety.
Cited in Japanese Knotweed: Removal Cost, Mortgages & Your Rights.
- very strong RN-SA820P cited
GOV.UK
Countryside Stewardship capital item FG3. Payment rate £5.66 per metre. Specification: erect wire fencing at least 1.05 m high using a minimum of 4 mild steel or high tensile plain wires, with a mains-operated energiser installed to the manufacturer's recommendations. Wooden straining posts at least 150 mm top diameter by 2.1 m long, intermediates 1.65 m long by 65 mm top diameter, struts 2.1 m by 75 mm; metal straining posts at least 2.4 m and intermediates at least 1.65 m. One of very few official per-metre rates for fencing, useful as a sanity check on market prices in a cost note.
- very strong RN-KESS1B cited
GOV.UK
The plain statement of what a homeowner may and may not burn in the garden, which a garden clearance or fire pit note can cite instead of asserting there is no law. It confirms there is no statutory ban on garden bonfires in England but you cannot dispose of household waste by burning it if that will cause pollution or harm health, and you could be fined if smoke drifts across a road and becomes a danger to traffic. Councils have a duty to investigate complaints of smoke and fumes amounting to a statutory nuisance and can serve an abatement notice, with a fine for breaching it. The page points homeowners to composting or council collection for garden waste instead.
Cited in Fire Pit Cost & Garden Ideas.
- very strong RN-WDA2M3 cited
GOV.UK
GOV.UK guidance on neighbour disputes. It says a council can consider a high hedge complaint about two or more mostly evergreen trees or shrubs over 2 metres tall, after informal attempts to settle.
Cited in How to Make Your Garden More Private, Trellis, Screening & Garden Privacy.
- very strong RN-6P05B1 cited
GOV.UK
The official statement of when a skip needs a council permit, and the practical companion to Highways Act 1980 section 139. You or the skip hire company need a skip licence or permit to put a skip on a public road, and the same applies to hippobags and other skip bags. You do not need a skip licence if you are putting the skip entirely on private land, which is the reason a driveway skip avoids the fee. You contact your local council for the licence, and if you do not put up the required safety lights and markings you could be fined up to 1,000 pounds.
Cited in Skip Hire Costs & Sizes.
- very strong RN-KJLMZ3 cited
GOV.UK
Defra's land manager half of the Countryside Code, and the national statement on electric fencing near public access. You can use barbed wire and electric fencing to keep livestock or horses separated from visitors on rights of way, but you must leave enough space for the visitor to use the path safely, not impinge on the legal width of a right of way, and use signs to warn visitors that the fence is electric. It also advises plain wire where the public is likely to come into contact with a fence, gate or stile. Cite this rather than the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which contain no electric fence signage duty.
- very strong RN-2IWEP7 cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE's guidance note behind every slip-resistance figure a flooring or paving note quotes, and the source that separates the two tests people conflate. Table 1 classifies slip potential from pendulum test values (PTV): 0 to 24 high, 25 to 35 moderate, 36 and above low. Table 2 gives the parallel Rz microroughness classification. It describes the HSL/UKSRG ramp CoF test, then deals with the German ramp tests separately: DIN 51097 uses barefoot operators with a soap solution and DIN 51130 uses heavily cleated EN ISO 20345 safety boots with motor oil, and HSE states it has reservations about both because neither uses contaminants representative of real workplaces and the way results are reported is a cause for concern. Table 3 sets the DIN 51130 R scale by slip angle: R9 6 to 10 degrees, R10 10 to 19, R11 19 to 27, R12 27 to 35, R13 above 35. It warns that R9 and sometimes R10 surfaces will be slippery when wet and that a single class covers a wide CoF range, R10 alone spanning 0.18 to 0.34, so an R number is not a substitute for a PTV. Note that BS 7976-2, the pendulum method, was withdrawn in February 2022, which makes this HSE page the right citation for the thresholds.
Cited in Bathroom Tiles: Types, Cost & Layout, Best Flooring for Kitchens, Bathrooms & Living Rooms, Floor Tiles: Porcelain vs Ceramic vs Stone, How to Tile a Floor and 4 more.
- very strong RN-Q1AJ6S cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE's publication page for HSG47, the free guidance on avoiding danger from underground services, which covers plans, cable avoidance tools and safe digging.
- very strong RN-AXZ4NU cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE page on COPR and its relationship to the biocides regime. States that the control of moss is regulated under the GB and EU Plant Protection Products Regulations (GB PPPR and EU PPPR), so claims against moss cannot be accepted under COPR and any product making a moss claim must be authorised under GB or EU PPPR. This is the source that kills the common trade-internet advice to treat patio and roof moss with diluted household bleach or sodium hypochlorite: an unauthorised product cannot lawfully be supplied or used for that purpose.
Cited in Crazy Paving Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-7BFGLY cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE's guidance on how powered gate safety is achieved. It lists force limitation with pressure-sensitive edges on leading and other edges wherever crushing or impact hazards exist.
Cited in Driveway Gates & Automation.
- very strong RN-CJ6IGI cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE guidance on excavation safety. It warns that collapses kill and injure people every year and that no ground can be relied on to stand unsupported.
Cited in How to Build Soakaway.
- very strong RN-GVE0T6 cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE's split of duties for powered gates. Installers working as part of a work activity must install the product safely under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, must follow manufacturer instructions, and become the responsible person as manufacturer if they assemble a gate from components. Maintainers and inspectors carry the same section 3 duty and must leave the gate safe. Commercial owners and occupiers additionally fall under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. The Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 applies to manufacturers and assemblers whatever the setting. Crucially: health and safety law does not apply to owners of powered gates on domestic privately owned premises, though HSE strongly recommends regular checks. Corrects the common claim that a homeowner must comply with the Machinery Directive.
Cited in Driveway Gates & Automation, Garden Gate Installation Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-21AA4H cited
Health and Safety Executive
The HSE rules a DIY note should quote whenever a job involves a ladder, in HSE's own words. For a leaning ladder, use the 1 in 4 rule: the ladder should be one space or unit of measurement out for every four spaces or units up, which is a 75 degree angle. Do not work off the top three rungs, and make sure the ladder extends at least 1 metre or three rungs above the point where you are working. Maintain three points of contact when climbing and wherever possible at the work position. Secure the ladder, for example by tying it, to prevent it slipping outwards or sideways. Only carry light materials and tools. For stepladders, do not stand and work on the top three steps, including a step forming the very top of the stepladder, unless there is a suitable handhold, and maintain three points of contact at the working position, meaning two feet and one hand. HSE frames ladders as suitable for low-risk, short-duration tasks only, which is the test to apply before recommending one for a whole-roof or whole-wall job.
Cited in Guttering Repair & Cleaning, The Complete UK Roofing Guide (2026).
- very strong RN-5C3ZFK cited
Health and Safety Executive
HSE guidance for home gardeners on plant protection products, and the legal position most people do not realise applies to a bottle of weedkiller. Amateur gardeners using home and garden pesticides do not need formal training: products approved for amateur use carry labels written to be straightforward and safe to follow. Professional pesticides used in commercial or agricultural settings require proper training and must never be used by untrained home gardeners. Before buying online or abroad, check the HSE garden database that the product is legal in the UK; products not authorised domestically may never have been assessed for safety, and using or storing them can lead to prosecution. Pesticides must be kept in their original containers - both a legal requirement and a safety measure - stored somewhere cool and temperature-stable away from children and pets, not in a shed or greenhouse where temperatures swing. Never store a diluted solution; mix only what is needed for immediate use. Never pour a product down a sink or toilet. Empty containers, both concentrate and ready-to-use, can now go into household recycling; sachets, cardboard boxes and other packaging go into non-recycling waste. For part-full or unwanted containers, use the local council hazardous waste service or the Garden Chemicals Safe Disposal guidance.
Cited in How to Remove Moss From a Roof: Should You Pressure Wash?.
- very strong RN-RFVAVE cited
Historic Environment Scotland (Engine Shed)
Historic Environment Scotland guidance on iron railings and gates. It says wrought iron is no longer made, is often confused with worked steel, and mild steel is the usual substitute.
Cited in Garden Gate Installation Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-2PRFRZ cited
HM Land Registry
HM Land Registry practice guide on boundaries. It says the belief that a fence's posts and rails show which side owns it has no legal foundation.
Cited in Fencing Cost & Types: A UK Guide, Right to Light & Boundary Disputes in Extensions.
- very strong RN-M7OUL6 cited
HM Land Registry
The government's own correction to the widespread 'check the title plan, the T marks show whose fence it is' advice. States that most title plans do not show exact boundaries and that you usually do not need the exact boundaries recorded anywhere, and that there is usually NO RECORD of either the exact boundary between two properties or who owns the hedge, wall, tree or fence between two properties. The two formal routes to settle it are a boundary agreement with the neighbour or an application for a determined boundary. Pair with Land Registration Act 2002 s.60, which makes a registered boundary a general boundary that does not determine the exact line unless determined.
Cited in Fencing Cost & Types: A UK Guide.
- very strong RN-H80XS8 cited
LSBUD
LSBUD is the UK's online service for requesting utility plans before digging, with around 2 million km of member networks registered; it replaces the note's non-UK 'Dial Before You Dig'.
Cited in How to Build Soakaway, Landscaping a Garden: Costs & Order of Work.
- very strong RN-SM6TRW cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The statutory source for soakaway design and the discharge hierarchy every garden drainage note should state. Requirement H3(3) lists the order of priority for rainwater discharge: (a) an adequate soakaway or other adequate infiltration system, or where not reasonably practicable (b) a watercourse, or where not reasonably practicable (c) a sewer. Paragraph 3.25 bars infiltration devices within 5 metres of a building or road, in ground where the water table reaches the bottom of the device at any time of year, too close to other drainage fields or soakaways, or where contamination could pollute groundwater. Paragraph 3.26: soakaways serving less than 100 square metres are generally square or circular pits filled with rubble or lined with dry-jointed masonry or perforated ring units. Paragraph 3.27: design to a return period of once in ten years, and for small soakaways serving 25 square metres or less a design rainfall of 10mm in 5 minutes may be assumed as the worst case. Paragraph 3.28 requires percolation tests to derive the infiltration rate, and paragraph 3.30 sends larger soakaways to BS EN 752-4 or BRE Digest 365 Soakaway design. Paragraphs 2.10 to 2.12 cover pervious paving over a granular storage reservoir and warn against its use where sediment or oil spillage would block the pores. For foul drainage, paragraph 2.33 sets a minimum 75mm internal diameter, or 100mm for a WC, and Table 6 gives minimum gradients of 1 in 40 for 75mm and 100mm at peak flows under 1 litre per second.
Cited in Adding an Ensuite: Cost, Layout & Plumbing, Annexe & Granny Flat: Cost, Planning & Rules, Basins & Vanity Units: A Buyer's Guide, Baths Compared: Freestanding, Inset & Shower Baths and 33 more.
- very strong RN-XH6E39 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The standard that decides whether a loft ladder is legal and when a raised deck needs a balustrade. Published 3 January 2013, it covers protection from falling, collision and impact including stairs, ladders, ramps, guarding and vehicle barriers. Paragraph 1.31 states that retractable ladders must not be used as a means of escape. Paragraph 1.32 permits a fixed ladder, with fixed handrails on both sides, only for access in a loft conversion containing one habitable room, and only where there is not enough space without altering the existing space for a compliant stair, which is the rule that catches most loft ladder installations. Paragraph 1.29 restricts alternating tread stairs to loft conversions. For a private stair the maximum pitch is 42 degrees (Table 1.1 note 1), the normal relationship between rise and going is twice the rise plus the going between 550mm and 700mm, and for dwellings external tapered steps forming part of the building need a going of at least 280mm. Paragraph 3.1 requires guarding wherever it is reasonably necessary for safety at the edge of a floor, gallery, balcony, roof, light well, basement or similar sunken area. Paragraph 3.2 requires guarding to be at least the height in Diagram 3.1, allows any wall, parapet or balustrade to serve as guarding, and requires it to resist the loads in BS EN 1991-1-1 with its UK National Annex and PD 6688-1-1, with BS 6180 for barrier and infill panel design. Handrails should be positioned 900mm to 1000mm from the pitch line or floor.
Cited in All You Need To Know About Double Glazing Repairs, Basement & Cellar Conversions: Cost, Basement Conversion Cost & Feasibility (UK), Bifold Doors: Cost, Sizes & Alternatives and 56 more.
- very strong RN-JYJ3I5 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The document that decides what electrical work a homeowner may legally do themselves, and the exact list of notifiable jobs. Regulation 12(6A), reproduced at paragraph 2.5, makes only three things notifiable: the installation of a new circuit, the replacement of a consumer unit, and any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location. Regulation 12(9) defines special location as, in a room containing a bath or shower, the zone extending vertically from finished floor level to 2.25 metres (or the shower head position if higher) and horizontally 600mm from the edge of the bath tub or shower tray. Paragraph 2.7 states that all other electrical installation work is not notifiable, namely additions and alterations to existing installations outside special locations, and replacements, repairs and maintenance anywhere. Paragraph 2.8 gives worked examples: a built-in cooker is not notifiable unless a new cooker circuit is needed, and connecting an electric gate or garage door to an existing isolator is not notifiable but running a new circuit from the consumer unit to that isolator is. Paragraph 2.2 confirms Part P reaches outdoor work including fixed garden lighting, pond pumps and outbuildings such as sheds, detached garages and domestic greenhouses. Notifiable work must be certified by self-certification by a registered competent person, third-party certification, or a building control body (paragraph 3.1), with the compliance certificate issued within 30 days (paragraph 3.4). Note that Approved Document P is a source of guidance rather than a ban: non-notifiable work still has to comply with BS 7671.
Cited in Adding an Ensuite: Cost, Layout & Plumbing, Adding Plug Socket Room Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Annexe & Granny Flat: Cost, Planning & Rules, Awning Installation Cost: Patio & Garden Awnings and 114 more.
- very strong RN-GDSCJJ cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The government's householder guidance on the 2008 front-garden paving rule. It confirms that a permeable driveway of any size, or one draining to a lawn or border, needs no planning permission.
Cited in Block Paving: Cost & Patterns, Dropped Kerbs: Cost, Rules & How to Apply.
- very strong RN-V3VCFP cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Government's own explanatory guidance behind the front-garden paving rule, published 13 May 2009 as a 28-page PDF (710 KB). It explains the change to the General Permitted Development Order that took effect on 1 October 2008: the hard surfacing of more than 5 square metres of a domestic front garden is permitted development only where the surface is rendered permeable, or where the run-off is directed to a permeable or porous area within the curtilage. Traditional impermeable surfaces such as in-situ concrete or bitmac over an impermeable base need planning permission above that 5 square metre threshold. The guidance sets out the practical ways to comply: permeable block paving, porous asphalt and gravel; and the alternative of conventional paving laid to fall onto a lawn, border, soakaway or rain garden. It covers construction build-ups for driveways and paved areas and the principle of controlling and reducing rainfall run-off into drains. Read with Class F of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO, which is the operative provision.
Cited in Block Paving: Cost & Patterns, Crazy Paving Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Resin Bound Driveways: Cost & Pros/Cons, Tarmac vs Gravel vs Resin Driveways.
- very strong RN-CVE07H cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (gov.uk)
The guidance that corrects the widespread belief that a hedge over 2 metres is illegal, which is the single most useful thing a hedge note can say. A hedge only comes within the Act if it is made up of a line of two or more trees or shrubs, mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen, more than 2 metres tall, and a barrier to light or access even if there are gaps, so a single tree, a deciduous hedge and a hedge that blocks a view but not light all fall outside it. The legislation does not set a specific height for a remedial notice, and the notice sets out what must be done to the hedge and by when, and may require the neighbour to keep it trimmed to a certain height. The council can reject a complaint if it thinks the complainant has not taken all reasonable steps to settle the dispute without involving them, and the guidance points to the companion publication Over the garden hedge for those steps. The council charges a fee, which varies, so its own website or complaint form must be checked. Both the complainant and the hedge owner can appeal to the independent Planning Inspectorate. Failing to comply with a remedial notice is an offence punishable with a fine of up to 1,000 pounds.
Cited in Hedge Trimming Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide.
- very strong RN-3OBUOM cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (gov.uk)
The government's own clause-by-clause interpretation of GPDO Schedule 2 Part 1, published 13 April 2016 and last updated 10 September 2019, and the document a planning officer will actually reach for. It explains the improvement or extension of homes without applying for planning permission where that would be out of proportion with the impact of the works, and defines the terms the Order uses that most disputes turn on: original dwellinghouse, curtilage, principal elevation, and how heights are measured on sloping ground. For Class E it works through what incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse means in practice, which is the test that excludes a garden room used as self-contained living accommodation, and how the 50 per cent curtilage calculation is done. Use it in preference to a paraphrase whenever a note has to explain why a particular garden building does or does not qualify.
Cited in Annexe & Granny Flat: Cost, Planning & Rules, Do You Need Planning Permission for a Garden Room?, Dormer Bungalow Conversions: Adding a Room to a Bungalow, Garden Room vs Extension: Which Should You Build? and 4 more.
- very strong RN-2HC440 cited
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Planning Practice Guidance, gov.uk)
The official Planning Practice Guidance on what you may and may not do to a tree in your own garden. A tree preservation order prohibits cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage and wilful destruction of protected trees without local authority consent (paragraph 001), and can protect individual trees, groups, areas or whole woodlands of any size or species (paragraph 011), but cannot protect shrubs or hedges, only what is ordinarily termed a tree (paragraph 012). A tree in a conservation area that is not already covered by an order needs six weeks' advance written notice under section 211 before work begins (paragraph 116); work may proceed earlier if the authority consents, or after the six weeks if no order is made (paragraph 118). Exemptions: five working days' notice for a dead tree and no notice for dead branches (paragraph 079); urgent work to remove an immediate risk needs written notice as soon as practicable but no prior consent (paragraph 080). Removing a protected tree triggers a duty to plant a replacement, enforceable by a tree replacement notice (paragraphs 097 and 121).
Cited in Conservation Area Rules for Homeowners, Landscaping a Garden: Costs & Order of Work, Planting Borders & Hedging, Subsidence: Signs, Causes & What to Do.
- very strong RN-GD5H2E cited
nidirect
Northern Ireland government page: consent to build or alter a vehicular access (dropped kerb) on a public road is applied for on a form returned to the local Department for Infrastructure office.
- very strong RN-3KGCLW cited
Planning Portal
States plainly that fences, walls and gates do not require building regulation approval, and that although building regulations do not apply the structures must be structurally sound and maintained. Adds that garden and boundary walls should be inspected periodically for repair or rebuilding, noting that wall collapse is one of the most common causes of death by falling masonry. This is the source to cite against any note claiming a garden or freestanding retaining wall needs Building Regulations approval or an Approved Document A submission.
Cited in Garden & Retaining Walls: Cost & Build.