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Do You Need Planning Permission for a Porch?

More and more people these days are turning to home improvement, either as a pastime, a way of improving the aesthetic appeal of their property, or even to add value to their property before Wall mounted green porchthey sell it. One of the easiest methods of doing this is to build a new porch. However, before any work begins on installing your new product, it is important to find out if you need planning permission for your porch.

Here at The Porch Specialist, we are delighted to be able to build and supply a wide variety of traditionally handcrafted porch kits to customers across the UK. As experts in the oak and timber construction industry, we have the answers to any questions our customers have, including whether or not you will need planning permission for your porch.

If you are interested in buying and building a porch for your property, but you have questions about whether or not you will need planning permission to build it, please don’t hesitate to get in touch today. We can discuss your requirements and help you to plan out your porch, before you place an order for one of our porch kits.

Factors to Consider When Building a Porch

If you are looking to see if your porch will need planning permission, there are three important factors to consider first:

  • The ground floor area where you wish to build the porch
  • The height of the porch you want to build
  • The porch’s distance from your property boundary and its distance from the highway

These are the factors which determine if you will need planning permission to build a porch onto your house (please contact your local planning authority for regulations for flats,  maisonettes and

 other buildings). If you already have the measurements prepared for your property’s size, call us and we will do everything we can to get you the porch you want in the dimensions your home needs.

Building a Porch Without Planning PermissionLow Brick Plinth + Mullions + Render Main

You will not require planning permission for a porch if the porch does not exceed 3m when measured externally, is no more than 3m in height and is not located within 2m of your property boundary and highway. 

Getting the correct porch size without planning permission is more usual than needing your order’s measurements changed. If you have checked the measurements for your property and found that you will not need planning permission for your planned porch, contact us today and we can get started on crafting your kit. 

When You Will Need Planning Permission to Build a Porch

There are certain circumstances in which planning permission to build a porch is required. This is when the size of the planned porch exceeds 3m when measured externally, 3m in height, or is located within 2m of the property boundary and highway. In these cases, they are considered extensions by themselves and you will have to submit a planning application.

The exception to this rule comes if you choose to build a porch on the side of your house. In this case, as long as you meet the criteria for building a side extension, your planned porch may fall under permitted development. This means that you would not require planning permission.

Building Regulations and Planning Permission for Porches

A porch will not normally need Building Regulation Approval, if it is built at ground level and its floor area is under 3 square metres. This is providing that any glazing or fixed e

Full height open green porch

lectrical installations already comply with their own sections of the Building Regulations.

For your new porch to be exempt from Building Regulation Approval, you must:

  • Make sure the front door of your property remains in place
  • Ensure that any disabled access to the property, such as a ramp, is not affected by the installation

Building a Porch on a Listed Building

If your property happens to be a Listed Building, you will have to apply for Listed Building Consent before you can start any sort of work there. This consent applies to all alterations, demolitions or extensions that you wish to add or carry out on any Listed Building that you own. It is a criminal offence to not seek Listed Building Consent when it is required.

For More Information

As a general rule, you will not normally be required to have planning permission to build a porch. However, this may not be the case in specific areas, so if you are in any doubt, contact your local authority. They will be able to provide more succinct information about your individual location, including the local permitted porch size without planning permission and any guidance which relates to specific countries in the UK.

Contact Us

If you have been looking for a porch to complete the look of your home, and only the thought of having to wait for planning permission was stopping you from making your purchase, get in touch with The Porch Specialist today. We can supply you with an oak or timber framed porch kit that can be built at your convenience, at a price which will not hurt your budget.

You will not have to wait to get the product you need, and can have the porch you’ve always wanted in no time at all.

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Porch Ideas: Thinking About a Spring Renovation?

porch ideas from experts

Porch Ideas to Help Inspire You

With spring now upon us, you may want to consider enhancing your home’s entrance way and front door.

TPS have over 30 years’ experience designing bespoke porches for customers around the UK and all timber we use is sustainably sourced and visually graded to ensure high quality standards are met.

Why Buy an Oak Porch?

There are a number of reasons why you may be considering an oak porch. Maybe you’re looking to enhance the appearance of your property’s entryway? Maybe your old porch has seen better days and you’re looking to invest in a new, oak-framed alternative? Whatever the reason, our 100% green oak porches combine traditional British appeal with modern craftsmanship, ensuring durability and style for years to come.

Ideas for Your Front Porch

We offer a range of front porches for almost any property. The entrance is the focal point of any property, and our oak framed porches are designed to enhance the appearance of all entryways. We have listed a few of our most popular porch kits below. Please explore and experiment with the different customisable options.

Wall Mounted Porch

Wall Mounted porch kitOne of the most popular porch kits we provide is the wall mounted porch. If you’re looking for a porch idea that is simple and quick to construct, this may be the choice for you.

Wall mounted porches are the most cost-effective design for enhancing your property’s entrance. At TPS, we also allow you to fully customise the design of your porch. You will be able to pick and choose the following options:

  • The size of your porch
  • Front elevation
  • Roof pitch
  • Beam style

If you’re looking to add quick curb appeal to your property, this is definitely the choice for you.

This kit includes: braces, tie beams, rafters, pegs, nails and assembly instructions.

Floor & Wall Mounted porch kit

Floor and Wall Mounted Porch

This design is similar to the standard wall mounted porch, the only difference being the front posts reach the floor. This is a more modern design and creates a more ‘complete’ entrance to your property. The benefit of this design is that the rear posts attached to the wall will take most of the weight, so the front posts only require a shallow pad foundation to rest the staddle stones on.

Low Brick Plinth Porch

Low Brick Plinth porch kit

Another popular porch idea is the low brick plinth design. This porch kit is ideal for those looking for full height posts and the option to add railings, mullions or rendering. This allows you to transform your porch into a semi-closed area (great for growing vines and other shrubbery).

Low Brick Plinth Porch with Render Panels and Mullions

This is the complete porch design. With added mullions, render panels and brickwork, this porch adds charm and character to your property. Like with all our porch kits, you will have the option to customise:

  • Low Brick Plinth with Render Panels & MullionsThe size of your porch
  • Front elevation
  • Roof pitch
  • Beam style
  • Back Porch Ideas

Back porches offer an ideal outdoor living area to relax and unwind in the spring and summer. While porch ideas for the front of your property may lean towards enhancing the entrance, back porches are usually design for socialising and offering an escape from the warm weather when necessary.

For this reason, we have included a ‘lean-to porch’ option. Take a look below at our porch ideas for the back of your property.

Depending on the size of your property, you may want to consider combining any of our front porch designs with a lean-to. For example, you could have two lean-to complexes separated by a wall to floor mounted porch in the middle. This not only enhances the entrance to the back of your home, but it also offers another social space within your garden or patio.

Consider a Full Height Porch with Ballustrade

Low Brick Plinth with Ballustrade porch kitIf you’re only looking for a small porch for your garden or patio area, any of our porch designs will fit and merge seamlessly with the rest of your property. However, we find that the ballustrade porch offers a more ‘rural’ element to garden and patio areas.

Looking for More Porch Ideas?

Although we build and provide a wide variety of unique oak porch designs, we understand that customers may require something more bespoke. Which is why we offer bespoke porch designs. Simply choose a base level of your porch from one of our designs above and if you do have some specific requirements we haven’t covered above, our craftsmen will happily help.

What About Assembly?

One of the biggest advantage of buying from TPS is that our porches are specifically designed for easy assembly. Some of our simpler kits (such as the wall mounted porch) can be designed within one week with a few helping hands. Our kits are designed for any skill set, from novice DIYers to experienced carpenters, assembly is easy with TPS.

Get in Touch Today

Our porches can be designed for almost any property, regardless of how big or small the space is. Our main priority at TPS is provide our customers with a marvelous entry to the front of their property, or an living space in their garden or patio. We’re here to help you maximise your outdoor space. Simply call or email our sales team to find out more about how we can transform the appearance of your property.

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How to Add Value to Your Home With an Oak Frame Porch Kit

oak porch gloucestershire

If you’re looking to start adding value to your property, you need to consider building a porch.

Front porches are one of the first design features buyers will see when approaching your house. First impressions play a huge role in a buyer’s final decision, so it’s important to ensure your home’s aesthetics are in order, and an oak framed porch is a great place to start.

Why Buy an Oak Framed Porch Kit?

There are several benefits of buying an oak framed porch kit:

  • They are easy to assemble – the biggest advantage of oak framed porch kits is that they’re easy to build. With a few helping hands, the average DIYer should have no problem assembling any of our oak porches.
  • They are durable – oak is a material that adapts to its surroundings over time. This means that weather and time
  • They offer swift solutions for trade businesses – if you’re a tradesmen tasked with building an oak porch for a client, our kits are designed for fast installation.
  • They require little to no maintenance – unlike other porches made from metals, concretes and PVC, oak porches are durable and actually adapt to their environment. They also absorb CO2, which helps the environment.
  • They cut labour costs – building your oak porch yourself means you don’t have to hire a builder or carpenter to install it.

oak porch kit

Your Porch Location

There’s a few factors to consider when choosing when it comes to installing your porch. There are essentially three locations, all of which serve different purposes:

  • Front porch – located at the front of the property (entrance door)
  • Back porch – located at the back of the property (back/garden door)
  • Wraparound porch – covers parts of/or the whole property

The most common option is the front porch. They are usually simple constructs and are inviting entrances for guests. Depending on the size, porches can also offer ample space for relaxing and socialising outside a property.

Back porches also offer a place for socialising, as they usually lead onto a garden. Back porches come in a variety of styles and sizes which adds character to your outdoor space and some extra space for sitting and relaxing in the summer months.

Wraparound porches are larger and offer a more traditional look. Some people adapt their wraparound porches into mini gardens, whereas others instal them to help shield their property from harsh weather (especially houses located near the coast).

The Cost of Adding a Porch

The cost of a porch depends on the size, style and potentially labour time (if you’re not building it yourself). The cost of our one of our most common porches – the Floor & Wall Mounted Porch – is priced at £1,200.

Again, there are a number of factors to consider when buying a porch. Fee free to browse our range to get a better understanding of what you’re looking for and how much you want to spend.

Building Your Porch Yourself

build your own oak porch kit

If you’re looking to cut labour costs, you may want to consider building one of our oak porches yourself. All of our porches come with full assembly instructions. So, if you’re looking for a small project and you’re confident in your DIY skills, assembling your porch should be no problem (we recommend having a few helping hands to lift and fit the beams into place). Alternatively, if you would rather hire a builder or carpenter to build your porch, this can easily be arranged.

What About Planning Permission?

You will only require planning permission for your oak porch kit if your porch will:

  • Exceed 3 square metres
  • Exceed more than three metres above ground level
  • Be within two metres of any boundary and/or highway

Additionally, if you live within a Conservation Area or a Listed Building, you will need to enquire about planning permission.

Your Return on Investment

While your return on investment largely depends on where your property is located, generally speaking, adding a porch to your property provides an average return on investment of 84%. Additionally, Homebuilding and Renovating included ‘adding a porch’ as one of their top ‘must dos’ for adding value to your property.

The Additional Benefits of Oak Framed Porch Kits

Costs aside, it’s also worth noting the many additional benefits that come with installing and building your own porch. Our oak framed porches are designed to add character to any property, as well as providing additional space. As mentioned before, adding porches come with a number of considerable benefits, aside from adding value to your property.

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ADD INSTANT KERB APPEAL TO YOUR PROPERTY

Darren Hook, Managing Director of The Porch Specialist, discusses how porches can instantly boost your home’s kerb appeal.

As winter approaches, porches fast become a doorstep must-have for homeowners prone to either fumbling for house keys at the bottom of their bag or juggling with the shopping after a weekly trip to the supermarket. Porches can be a real benefit at this time of year, but they can also prove to be a great asset for a home’s overall aesthetic.

Generally speaking, you won’t require planning permission if your porch falls within a certain criteria. However if it exceeds 3m2, is 3m above ground level or is within 2m of any boundary or highway, then planning permission must be sought. For Listed buildings or those within Conservation Areas, it is worth seeking professional advice or consulting the guidelines in your official documentation.

Acting as the main exterior element to a building’s façade, a porch is constantly subject to the forces of nature, therefore the material’s longevity and durability is key. If you’re looking for a timeless addition to your property, then an oak-framed porch carries many advantages. Unlike other materials, green oak ages beautifully, developing a stunning silver patina. As the material dries out and loses its moisture content, the joints shrink to create an exceptionally strong and stable structure.

An oak frame porch itself is incredibly quick to assemble and can even be carried out yourself if you possess a good level of DIY knowledge. Depending on the style of your property, you may wish to incorporate more detail into the design of your structure, such as a high brick plinth. This can easily be accomplished yourself or with the help of a local builder.

Here at The Porch Specialist, we have a range of porch kits available to order through our website. Using our easy to navigate product portal, we’ll take you through each step to achieve your dream oak frame porch, from size and elevation detail through to roof pitch and finally onto beam style. All of our kits contain posts, braces, tie beams, rafters, pegs, nails, staddle stones if needed and full assembly instructions. Felt, battens, tiles and wall fixings can be purchased separately from any reputable DIY store or merchants for trade customers.