Since the design called for a max external roof height of >2.5 m and since the shed was to be built within 2 m of the boundary, I needed to apply for planning permission.

Process

The planning process is kicked off with a submission to the Planning Portal. The planning portal gives one unified place to submit planning anywhere in England (not sure about the rest of the UK). After submission and payment, the application is sent to the local council for review and I dealt with a planning officer/assistant by email from that point onwards. In 2023, the fee for a “Householder Application” was £238. I believe that you can start a planning application and save it without submitting it, so you can see the questions you’ll be asked before you pay.

Docs

I had to provide a number of documents, including:

  • Drawings
  • Design and Access Statement
  • Fire Safety Strategy
  • Site Plan

Drawings and Plans

Existing sheds, as seen from in front Existing and proposed, as seen from above Proposed shed, as seen from in front Cross-section through proposed shed

I had to provide scale drawings of the existing site and the proposed building(s). For example,

  • Elevations and floor plans of the existing sheds.
  • A (cross-)section drawing of the proposed shed.
  • Elevations, floor plans and roof plan of the proposed shed.

Requirements may vary by locality.

My architect did my drawings with Vectorworks but a friend did his design with pencil and paper, scanned it, scaled it and submitted it.

Design and Access Statement

A design and access statement is your chance to make the case for your building. Mine was a couple of sheets of A4 and included:

  • A description of the proposal.
  • A description of the location.
  • A justification of the size/shape of the building.
  • Some pictures to give an idea of the site.
  • Some pictures showing possible construction methods and materials.
  • Notes on (pedestrian) access to the site.

Get in touch if you would like to see it. You should also be able to see local planning applications on your council’s website for inspiration.

Fire Safety Strategy

There don’t seem to be many templates on the internet for sheds or other small buildings. Perhaps architects and builders tend to have in-house docs that they aren’t incentivised to share.

I thought that a fire safety document for such a small building was unnecessary red-tape to begin with but putting together mine did influence the build. In particular, I ordered fire extinguishers quite early on and I gave some thought to the storage of flammable materials that I otherwise wouldn’t have.

If you would like to see mine, you can do so here. Please note that I am not a fire safety specialist, I have not had it approved or assessed by any specialist, and you copy or modify it entirely at your own risk.

Site Plan

Why on earth you have to pay for, download, and then upload an image/PDF of a site plan (at two different scales) is beyond me. It would be far simpler if you could select a point / bounding box on a digital map. I don’t think you actually have to pay for both site plans though, as long as you can buy the larger scale one and then crop it to the smaller scale in an image editor.

Thoughts

The planning process is not as difficult as you may have been lead to believe. However, it has two major drawbacks:

  1. You have no idea whether your application will be accepted.
  2. You have to wait a long time to find out (it took me almost four months from submission to final approval).

If you are not short of time and would like to build a similar shed to mine, I think it’s worth the effort. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about the process.

If I had been building >2 m away from the boundary, I would still have needed planning with this design as the very peak of the roof is slightly over 3 m. Despite playing around with the design to try to get it under 3 m, I couldn’t do it with my restrictions. In particular, I was trying to keep the side height low so that it wasn’t too imposing for neighbours. If you do not have this requirement, I think it would make sense to have the roofs at a slightly flatter pitch, increase the height at the sides slightly and bring the roof peak down to 3 m.

What I’d do Differently

I’d consider permitted development if you are building far enough from the boundary or if you can design the roof height lower. For example, you could probably do without the 100-150 mm air gap beneath the building if you are pouring a raft foundation.