An outdoor swimming pool is a form of development that is permitted by Class E, Part 1, Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (As Amended), if it complies with all the conditions.
If your site is not located on “Designated Land” (which includes national parks and the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, conservation areas and World Heritage Sites) the principal consideration is that the pool must not exceed 50% of the total area of land around the original house. Sheds and all other outbuildings and extensions to the original house must be included when calculating this 50% limit.
Planning permission for a changing room
Even if you are planning for an outdoor pool, you may wish to enclose all or part of it at some future stage or construct a “changing room”. In which case, it would be worth bearing in mind the permitted development limitations on buildings in the curtilage of a dwellinghouse as this will have some bearing on the siting of the pool.
To be permitted development, any new building must not itself be separate, self-contained, living accommodation and must not have a microwave antenna.
Outbuildings must be single storey with a maximum eaves height of 2.5 metres and maximum overall height of 4 metres with a dual pitched roof, or 3 metres in any other case.
If the outbuilding is within 2 metres of the property boundary the whole building should not exceed 2.5 metres in height.
Balconies and verandas are not permitted development. Raised platforms such as decking are permitted development provided they are no higher than 300mm.
Proceeding with permitted development
You can proceed with permitted development without the need to make any formal application to the planning authority.
If you want confirmation that planning permission is not required for the swimming pool and any enclosure, you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate from your Local Planning Authority. Such a Lawful Development Certificate provides evidence that planning permission is not required for the proposed development. This can be helpful in the event that the property is sold at some future date. (As part of the due diligence process, purchasers’ solicitors will often ask for confirmation that planning permission was not required at the time of construction).
If you want to obtain a lawful development certificate, or discuss your planning project further we would love to hear from you. Get in touch by calling 01543 418779 or emailing [email protected]
