Planning -shed in sort of front garden

[JennyBoardEraser]

My front garden is in front of my house but my house does not face the road. I face park land.

I currently have a shed that I need to move from my back garden but I would like to keep it. Due to the hill I live on there is nowhere else it can go in the back garden other than where it is.

The Planning website says "Outbuildings are considered to be permitted development, not needing planning permission, subject to the following limits and conditions:
No outbuilding on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation."

Ordinarily this makes sense however my house isn't in a line with other properties nor does it face any other properties. I have attached a very detailed drawing pretty much to scale. I want to put my shed at the end of the drive where we currently turn our cars round so we can exit the drive facing forward. Currently the bins are at the end of the turning point so that is what you see when you look up the drive. We have 3m x 3m so my 8ft x 5ft shed would fit. The entrance of the drive to the shed would be around 17m so quite a distance from the pavement.

There are mature trees and shrubs in my garden so you would not see the shed from the house nor could you see it from the park either. The park has large clusters of mature trees and shrubs and no pathways through it are anywhere near my house.

My side garden is far too sloped to landscape, it slopes toward the pavement but also towards the park too. My house is cut into the hill so my back garden is higher up than my front garden.

Do you think planning would say yes?

Great drawing btw!

All you can do is ask........... interestingly, have you checked which would be the front elevation for these purposes? It's your side elevation which "fronts" the road and the shed won't be forward of that. Might be worth checking with the planning dept.

Your principal elevation will be the one with your front door, main windows and facing the park but it isn’t fronting a public highway and so I think there’s a reasonable chance that planning will allow it.

I also think there’s a high chance you’ll get it broken into…

“Principal elevation” – in most cases the principal elevation will be that part of the house which fronts (directly or at an angle) the main highway serving the house (the main highway will be the one that sets the postcode for the house concerned). It will usually contain the main architectural features such as main bay windows or a porch serving the main entrance to the house. Usually, but not exclusively, the principal elevation will be what is understood to be the front of the house. There will only be one principal elevation on a house. Where there are two elevations which may have the character of a principal elevation, for example on a corner plot, a view will need to be taken as to which of these forms the principal elevation.

This is the definition of principal elevation from the Technical Guidance. I really don't think from this definition, it is clear which elevation of your property would be classed as the principal elevation. You will need to ask your local Council.

On another point, the layout you have shown indicates that it could be a relatively modern development? If so have you checked to see whether there are any conditions on the original planning permission removing your permitted development rights? It is quite common on newer developments (1980's onwards).

Technical Guidance here

Tbh it’s a shed so not going to cost much if you move it anyway. I’d suggest discussing with neighbour whether they have any problems with it and then moving it. If you get complaints just move it back. Looks like the only people impacted would be those neighbours so that’s where any complaints would come from

I think I'd be inclined to put up some screening at the edge of the turning circle so the shed can't be seen from the road. And I wouldn't bother the planning department ;). If nobody knows it's there, nobody will complain.
A friend had a house also sideways onto its plot like yours, and wasn't allowed to put dormer windows into the front elevation (actually sideways, looking onto nobody but their own front garden and a bare hillside) but could put them in the side, facing the house opposite.

Gosh a lot of replies, thank you. The side of my house which faces the road is the gable end and has no windows at all. I hadn't considered whether the council would consider that my principal elevation.

It was a large new build estate as in built in the last 30 years with lots of different builders doing each section. My neighbour who I side on to whose fence it would be against is lovely and the fence is shared. I don't know any of the other neighbours as when I leave my drive I am usually in my car so just do a wave!

I don't have any permitted development rights, I have already done an extension and converted the garage but with the huge amount of parking it wasn't an issue.

You are right about moving the shed won't cost much if it is a problem. I can't see it being from the neighbour's side. They have play equipment against the fence as it is all very screened from my side with greenery. My shed would be behind the slide and is painted in a green Cuprinol paint which would blend it in well.

Sorry - I thought you were asking whether it needed PP as you included the bit about PD in your post.

If you have no PD rights then yes it will require full planning permission. It sounds as though it will be set back from the road, well screened (and possibly set at a higher level than the road?). If it is well screened from the park and will not have an impact on the neighbour to the rear, I think the planners would find it hard to object, but obviously without seeing it in real life, I couldn't be certain.

You won’t have lost your permitted development rights unless you’ve used up more than 50% of your plot with buildings. Have you?

@HasaDigaEebowai

You won’t have lost your permitted development rights unless you’ve used up more than 50% of your plot with buildings. Have you?

Sometimes permitted development rights are removed by way of a condition on a previous planning permission (common with new-build estates since about the 1980s), or they can be removed by a Council over a certain area by way of an Article 4 direction. This should always be checked.

if the new shed is not visible from the road, and might well be within the rules as a being behind the principle elevation (the one facing the road), then i'd be inclined to go ahead & do it, then see if anyone complains.

@Seeline ah I see, I meant what chance do you think I would have at getting planning or whether I could just wing it and put the shed there but that info about principal elevation is interesting and yes I have no idea how my council will apply it. I am slightly elevated from the road, it is more level at the drive entrance but you need a good handbrake to park on the drive.

Yes it would be well screened and only visible from the drive entrance which many a delivery person misses as it is just a gap in the planting of our side garden and the screening of the park. So it is not visible from the pavement just the drive, I love being surrounded by all the greenery, an arse to keep on top of but worth it.

@pickingdaisies not a bad idea to screen it from the road at the end of the turning circle. I will put some thought into it but suggestions are welcome.

@HasaDigaEebowai the shed has one of those massive metal bars across the entire front of it, there is nothing worth nicking in there. It is basically small plant pots for starting to grow plants, weedkiller, watering cans, mulch, hose pipe and accessories. Some basic gardening tools like a trowel, kneeling pad etc but no bikes or lawn mowers. We have CCTV all round the house and we have security lighting. It is less exposed than all the garages opposite.

To clarify my side garden is all tall planting consisting of shrubs with trees grown through, minimum of 8ft high at the pavement side.