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Build a shed, garage or greenhouse at your house

Last updated
14 Aug 2023

You may want to add a shed, garage, greenhouse or other similar building to your house. 

This guidance only applies if your home is a dwellinghouse. This means it's a house you live in and is not used as a business premise to any significant degree.

Permitted development

Before you do this you should first check if you need to apply for planning permission.

Most sheds, garages, greenhouses or other similar buildings do not need a planning permission application, because most meet a set of rules called 'permitted development'.

The permitted development rules for sheds, garages, greenhouses or other similar buildings are:

  • it's located at the back of the house
  • it's not used as a separate home to live in
  • it, and any other development, does not take up half or more of the ' rear curtilage' – this means half or more of the grounds behind your home
  • it's not higher than 4 metres at the highest point
  • any part that's a metre or less from the boundary is no higher than 2.5 metres
  • the eaves (the part where the wall meets the roof) is no higher than 3 metres
  • if the land is in a conservation area or in the grounds of a listed building, the building has a footprint of less than 4 square metres

Smaller buildings such as bike storage units have different permitted development rules:

  • it's located at the front or the back of the house
  • it's not higher than 1.5 metres
  • it's not wider than 2.5 metres
  • it's not deeper than 1.2 metres
  • it's the only building on the grounds of your home that these permitted development rules apply to
  • it does not block sight of a road or footpath for drivers
  • it's not on the grounds of a World Heritage site
  • it does not block light to another building

For a more detailed explanation of what's considered a permitted development when building a shed, garage or greenhouse, read the Scottish Government's Guidance on Householder Permitted Development rights publication and go to down to section 4.74. This includes more circumstances where this sort of development may qualify as permitted development, but also instances where additional restrictions apply.

Planning permission

If the building you want to add does not meet the conditions for permitted development, you have to apply for planning permission.

Find out how to apply for planning permission, or contact your local council for further information.

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeenshire Council Angus Council Argyll and Bute Council Clackmannanshire Council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Dumfries and Galloway Council Dundee City Council East Ayrshire Council East Dunbartonshire Council East Lothian Council East Renfrewshire Council Edinburgh Council Falkirk Council Fife Council Glasgow City Council Highland Council Inverclyde Council Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority Midlothian Council Moray Council North Ayrshire Council North Lanarkshire Council Orkney Islands Council Perth and Kinross Council Renfrewshire Council Scottish Borders Council Shetland Islands Council South Ayrshire Council South Lanarkshire Council Stirling Council West Dunbartonshire Council West Lothian Council

You should always check with your council's planning department to see whether you need to apply for planning permission. Even if you meet the permitted development rules, there might be other approvals you'll need to get.

Other approvals

You might need other approvals before you can carry out work. For example, you might need approval under the building regulations from the local council.

If you do not own the land on which the development is being carried out (for example, if you're a tenant or the land's in joint ownership), you need to get the landowner's permission.

If you live in a listed building you'll also need to obtain listed building consent.

It's your responsibility to make sure you get any necessary approval.

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