Adding a driveway to a terraced house

[EEvermore]

My husband and I have recently moved into a Victorian terraced house in Edinburgh. The house is lovely, however a big downside is that it is located on a fairly busy B-Road (30 mph).

Parking can sometimes be tricky and we occasionally need to park away from our house. We are thinking of starting a family soon and want to have easy access from house to car with children for their safety. We would also like to get an electric car in time so this would allow us to charge it.

So is it possible for us to add a driveway to the front of our house? We have a fairly long front garden which we don’t use, and a few of the same houses further up the street have driveways.

If anyone has done this or has any thoughts it would be greatly appreciated.

An idea of costs too would be helpful!

Didn’t have this done but our first house was a Victorian terrace with this done (done I think 30 odd years before we moved in) and it worked perfectly fine. In fact it was the reason we bought the house as it’s so unusual for a Victorian terrace to have a drive out the front. There were only like 6 of us on the road with enough front garden to do so and we everyone who could had done it.

Only issue we found was that delivery drivers would constantly be parked in front of our drive as it was easier to park in front of it than find somewhere to parallel park properly. It was annoying but I’d still rather have had a drive.

Cant help with cost unfortunately but I imagine it would be pretty costly.

We bricked the front of our house (not long enough for a drive but enough to get a car on sideways) it is a small area maybe 12 foot by 3 foot. That cost about £400to do. (We did it ourselves). Stones would probably be cheaper, slabs would be better.

You would need to enquire about dropping the kerb otherwise you will likely still get people parking outside your house.

First contact the council to enquire about
a) planning permission for the drive
b) permission for the dropped kerb
You will need both, and being on a classified road (B road) means it may be tricky. Don't assume that because others have a driveway that you will get consent.

There are rules about what surface can be used I.e. permeable block paving or asphalt that lets water drain away through it.

Not just enquire about dropping the kerb! It's not a driveway if the kerb isn't dropped. Need to get permission and get the work done!

I did this about 15 years ago. Different councils do it differently. Mine gave permission but had to be a contractor from a list they provided; cost about £600.

If you plan to cover more than 5 square metres so that water won't drain, you need planning permission. If you use something that lets water drain - eg gravel - you don't.

Adding to this, gravel is better security-wise and also safer when it's icy.

First thing to do is see if you can get a dropped kerb. Without that you can't do it

You probably can do it, but it's very environmentally unsound and contributes to surface flooding. A gravel drive is much the better option as water soaks into the ground under it instead of running off it.