A garden room or studio falls under permitted development, exempting it from the need for planning permission, if it adheres to a series of criteria which we have outlined below:

• It is not situated in front of the main house’s principal elevation.
• The overall height does not exceed 2.5 meters if the garden room is within 2 meters of the boundary
• If located more than 2 meters away from the boundary, a single pitched roof can have a maximum height of 2.5 meters at the eaves and 3 meters at the ridge. For dual pitched roofs, these heights extend to 2.5 meters at the eaves and 4 meters at the ridge.
• It is a single-storey construction without a veranda, balcony, or raised platform (though decking of less than 300mm high is acceptable).
• Additions or other buildings do not cover more than half of the land around the “original house.”
• In certain designated areas such as National Parks, conservation areas, etc., the maximum area covered by buildings situated more than 20 meters from the house is restricted to 10 square meters.
• It is not located to the side of a dwelling within designated land or within the curtilage of a listed building.
• It does not serve as separate, self-contained living accommodation.
• Its total area does not exceed 30 square meters.

Regarding Building Regulations:

• Garden buildings are typically exempt from building regulations if there is no sleeping accommodation and the structure is either at least 1 meter from any boundary or constructed primarily of non-combustible materials (for example Cedral Cladding as shown below).