One for Planners please- shepherds huts

[partridge]

We would love to have some form of spare bedroom for children's sleepovers etc.

We live in an a listed ground and garden flat in the centre of Edinburgh. Does anyone happen to know if we need permission for a 12x6'3 shepherds hut?

All the literature on them says not as they are on wheels, however I have never seen a picture of them in such an urban setting - particularly in an urban unesco world heritage sight! Have linked to them below.

www.bespokeshepherdhutcompany.com/SHEPHERD-HUTS-FOR-SALE(2296357).

We had a similar issue in a ground floor flat we lived in in fife. We bought a garden office from Dobies, literature suggests they don't need planning. However the issue was that we were in a flat, even though the garden was all ours. Because of this we had to apply for planning. If we had been in a house, we wouldn't. We have just moved the office to Edinburgh to the garden of our semi and the planning people say we don't need permission. The people at the council planning offices were really helpful, they can give you a really good idea of what's involved over the phone.

Thank you. I have lusted over those Dobbie's garden rooms.

Unfortunately we are a-listed so don't think I'll even try my luck with those - I was hoping the shepherds hut on wheels might be different...

I asked a family member about this a little while ago, and her thinking was that it was a grey area. IIRC, she reckoned that they function for all practical purposes as a fixed garden building, and that would be how she would want to treat them, but that she could see that the owner would argue strongly for the idea that they were movable and non permanent.

It's probably worth a try, but be prepared to argue the case one way or another. Presumably part of the argument would be that if you moved house, you'd take the hut with you.

We lived in a ground floor flat- terraced house conversion and we owned the whole of the back garden. We needed permission to build a garden office as it was a flat - as OwlMother said. Still domestic planning applications fairly cheap.