Laying paving in a back garden is a common home improvement that most homeowners can carry out without any formal consent. The rules differ between back and front gardens, with the front garden rules being more restrictive due to concerns about surface water run-off and the impact on the appearance of the street scene.

Paving a Back Garden

Paving or hard surfacing in a back garden does not require planning permission in the vast majority of cases. The permitted development rules for domestic curtilages do not impose restrictions on hard surfacing in rear gardens. Whether you lay concrete, block paving, natural stone, or any other type of hard surface in your back garden, planning permission is not normally required.

The main practical consideration is drainage. If large areas of a garden are paved over with impermeable surfacing, rainwater that would previously have soaked into the ground must go somewhere. The building regulations and good practice guidance both encourage drainage provision where substantial areas are paved. Connecting surface water to the foul sewer without consent from the water authority is not permitted. Either providing soakaways, using permeable paving, or directing water to a suitable drain are the appropriate approaches.

Paving a Front Garden

Front gardens are subject to more specific rules. Since October 2008, planning permission has been required to pave over a front garden with an impermeable surface where the area being paved exceeds five square metres. This rule was introduced to address concerns about increased surface water run-off, localised flooding, and the cumulative loss of front garden greenery in residential areas.

Permeable surfaces, meaning surfaces that allow water to drain through them such as permeable block paving, gravel, or other porous materials, are exempt from this requirement regardless of area. Directing water to a lawn or border where it can soak into the ground naturally also avoids the need for planning permission even with an impermeable surface covering a larger area.

What counts as permeable

Block paving laid with gaps between blocks that are filled with gravel or grass is permeable. Permeable concrete and permeable tarmac products that have a porous structure are also considered permeable. Standard concrete, standard tarmac, and solid stone slabs laid on a mortar bed over an impermeable sub-base are impermeable surfaces that would trigger the planning requirement for front gardens exceeding five square metres.

Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings

In a conservation area, paving that would materially affect the character of the area may require planning permission even for back gardens. For listed buildings, any works to the curtilage of a listed building that affect its character may require listed building consent. Checking with the local planning authority before paving in either of these contexts is advisable.

Summary

Paving a back garden does not require planning permission for most residential properties. Paving a front garden with an impermeable surface exceeding five square metres requires planning permission, but permeable surfaces of any size are exempt. Drainage should be considered for any substantial paving scheme. Conservation areas and listed buildings may impose additional requirements. For front garden driveway creation, permeable surfaces are the most straightforward route.