Do You Need Planning Permission for a Pergola?
Updated: 9 hours ago
A pergola does not normally need planning permission in England. A freestanding pergola is treated as an outbuilding and is permitted development as long as it stays within the height limits and sits behind the front of the house. A pergola fixed to the house is treated as an extension and measured against the extension limits instead. Either way, the ordinary garden pergola falls well inside what the rules allow.
The picture changes with a louvred or glazed roof, with sliding glass sides, or with a house that is listed or on designated land. Those are the cases we see most often on our pergola glass rooms. The rules below are for England; Wales and Scotland set their own limits, so check with your council there.
Is a freestanding pergola permitted development?
Yes, under the Planning Portal rules for outbuildings such as sheds and garden rooms:
It must not sit forward of the principal elevation of the house.
Eaves no higher than 2.5 metres, overall height no more than 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof or 3 metres otherwise.
Within 2 metres of a boundary, the whole structure is limited to 2.5 metres in height.
Outbuildings and extensions together may cover no more than half of the land around the original house.
No raised platform more than 0.3 metres above ground beneath it.
The height limit is the one to watch: a pergola with a top beam at 2.7 metres within 2 metres of the fence is over the limit even with no roof. Move it or lower the beam and it is back inside permitted development.
The platform rule catches pergolas on decking: a deck over 0.3 metres high needs permission itself, whatever the pergola does.
Does an attached pergola or veranda need planning permission?
When a pergola is fixed to the rear wall of the house it becomes an extension, and the single storey rear extension limits apply:
Up to 4 metres of projection from the original rear wall on a detached house, and 3 metres on any other house.
No higher than 4 metres overall.
Eaves no higher than 3 metres within 2 metres of a boundary.
No more than half of the garden covered by extensions and outbuildings.
So a veranda roof projecting 3.5 metres from a semi-detached house needs an application, while the same roof on a detached house does not. Deeper roofs, up to 8 metres on a detached house and 6 metres on others, can go through prior approval, where the council notifies the neighbours and has 42 days to decide. These are the same figures that decide how big a conservatory can be without planning permission. The "no verandas" line in the outbuilding rules refers to raised platforms, not a ground-level veranda roof on the house.
Does a louvred roof or glass roof change the planning position?
Not for planning. A louvred aluminium roof, a fixed glass roof and open beams are all measured by the same height and projection rules.
The roof matters for building regulations. An open pergola, or one with a roof and at least two open sides, is generally exempt like a covered way or carport, up to 30 square metres. Enclose it with glass sides and it becomes a room: attached to the house, it is exempt only if it meets the conservatory conditions (ground level, no more than 30 square metres, separated by external doors, independent heating with its own controls, safety glazing); opened up to the house, it needs building regulations approval. The pergola cost climbs in similar steps, from open frame to louvred roof to glass room.
When does a pergola always need planning permission?
Listed buildings. No outbuilding rights in the grounds of a listed house, and an attached pergola alters the listed building, so planning permission and listed building consent are both needed.
Designated land. In a conservation area, National Park, National Landscape (formerly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), the Broads or a World Heritage Site, rights are more restricted: an outbuilding may not go at the side of the house, and outside conservation areas the total area of outbuildings more than 20 metres from the house is capped at 10 square metres. A modest pergola behind the house can still be permitted development.
Flats and maisonettes. No permitted development rights for outbuildings or extensions, so a pergola needs an application.
Article 4 directions and removed rights. Some councils withdraw rights in specific areas, and some new-build estates lose them by planning condition.
Where an application is needed, it is a householder application (£528 in England) with an eight week decision period.
How do you prove a pergola was permitted development?
For a modest open pergola most people do nothing. For a glazed pergola, a louvred roof close to a boundary or anything on designated land, a lawful development certificate is worth having. The fee for a proposed development is half the householder fee, so £264 in England. It is the council's written confirmation, ready before a buyer's solicitor asks.
Keep the dated drawings: height and distance to the boundary settle any later query in minutes.
Pergola planning permission questions, answered
How high can a pergola be without planning permission?
Up to 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof or 3 metres with any other roof, and no more than 2.5 metres in total if any part of it is within 2 metres of a boundary. An attached pergola may be up to 4 metres high with eaves no higher than 3 metres near a boundary.
Can a pergola go at the front of the house?
Not under permitted development. Nothing may be built forward of the principal elevation without planning permission, and a front pergola will be assessed on its effect on the street.
Does a pergola with a retractable canopy need permission?
No more than an open pergola does. A fabric canopy does not change the planning position, and because it is not a solid roof it does not bring building regulations into play either.
Is a veranda treated the same as a pergola?
Yes. Attached, it follows the extension limits; freestanding, the outbuilding limits. Position and dimensions decide, not the name.
Talk to our design team
Most pergola projects we take on never see a planning officer, and when one does we prepare the application as part of the design work. If you are planning a pergola, talk to our design team.
