On English Law & Backyard Boatbuilding

[Mike]

For those who ask themselves the question: "Do I need Council planning permission to build a boat in my backyard?" we offer the following help.

First, there is no law per se that prohibits you from building a boat in your back garden. And where English law does not expressly forbid something, you are generally free to go ahead and do that thing.

However, there are certain restrictions when it comes to size, especially if you need to build her under a shelter of a temporary nature, as we are. We thought you might find the advice given us by our local Council planners quite helpful in this regard.

We have uploaded an extract from the relevant piece of legislation, The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (Click Here) (http://www.backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/images/legislation.doc) to assist you. Look at the section entitled 'Class E' beginning on the fourth page. Class F is also relevant if you're going to lay a hard base on which to build. This seems to be the applicable law with respect to permitted development of a temporary shelter under which to build your boat - without the need to apply for planning permission.

Provided your boat and/or it's shelter falls within the specified limits here, you should be OK to go ahead without planning permission. If, on the other hand, you cannot meet the specifications here, then you will have to make a formal application for planning permission.

We've checked with our immediate neighbours as to whether they would mind our planned build and no-one has said they object. Nonetheless, it seems wise to check the applicable law just in case someone does raise an objection. If you have planning permission, or simply don't need it, then objections, if they arise, ought to fall on deaf ears whether at the Council or in a court of law.

That said, we think it is important to keep on good terms with your neighbours by not making too much noise at early or late hours and by letting them know if you are about to do something that might be very noisy, or smelly, whatever. Communication is the key.

Best wishes

Mike
P.S. If you need any help in understanding the somewhat confusing 'legalese' in this legislation, please feel free to PM me and I'll try to help out (I read law at university not very long ago).

[Arthor]

thanks for that info Mike.

It would seem to me that a huge problem here is the size and proximity to the "dwelling house".

A box that is 1x1x10 metres is on the limit and that leaves you with a long canoe. Even with more sensible proportions 10 cubic metres is pretty small. 5 metres is quite a chunk of your average semi garden and I would imagine a fair amount of people would want to do it sort of in the drive bit to the rear of the house (after demolishing the garage).
It also doesn't say anything about temporary structures. Any ideas about that?

regards

arthor

[Mike]

A box that is 1x1x10 metres is on the limit and that leaves you with a long canoe. Even with more sensible proportions 10 cubic metres is pretty small. 5 metres is quite a chunk of your average semi garden and I would imagine a fair amount of people would want to do it sort of in the drive bit to the rear of the house (after demolishing the garage).To which part of the legislation do you refer here, Arthor? I see nothing that limits you necessarily to '10 cubic metres' of workspace.

It also doesn't say anything about temporary structures. Any ideas about that?Well, mine is a temporary structure and the advice I received is that, whether or not temporary, if it doesn't have walls then it is not deemed to be an extension of the house. A free standing shed is not temporary, of course, but a shelter is. Mine's a shelter, to be dismantled after the boat is built. My kayak-building shed is permanent and sits well outside the area where it might be taken to be an extension. There is an overall limit on the proportion of space you can use but that does not really limit the average boatbuilder - unless building an Ark or something equally huge. There is, of course, the problem created by some very small gardens. Even a relatively modest boat could exceed the maximum proportion problems.

It is important to first establish which of the 'Classes' you want to build your structure under. Most backyard boaties will use the Class E rules. I think this is where you are running into some misunderstanding. Class E refers to erecting "any building or enclosure, swimming or other pool required for a purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse as such, or the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of such a building or enclosure."

Now this is what you need to consider:

Assuming you don't encroach closer to the highway than specified, if you want to erect a structure that will be greater than 10 cubic metres in volume, then no part of that structure can be within 5 metres of your house. This does NOT limit you to a maximum of 10 cubic metres.

If your roof is to be ridged, it must not exceed 4 metres in height. If a flat roof, it must not be more than 3 metres in height.

And the overall AREA of all the external structures (that is not including the house itself) must not exceed half of the overall area of your entire property excluding the house. It is this one that can cause you to run into problems if you have one of those postage stamp back gardens - unless you have a huge front garden.

Note that the interpretation of Class E suitability (at E.2) speaks of building for activity that is 'personal enjoyment'. Boats fall within that category - unless you hate building 'em. Ha ha!

Finally, don't forget the fact that, if you can't build under this legislation, you are still free to apply for permission from your local council anyway.

Hope this helps in some small way, Arthor.

Best wishes

[Arthor]

(c) where the building to be constructed or provided would have a cubic content greater than 10 cubic metres, any part of it would be within 5 metres of any part of the dwellinghouse;

Mike, I am obviously misinterpreting this part of E.1.

Does this mean it has to be less than 10 cubic metres IF any part of it is within 5 metres of the house?
arthor

[Mike]

Yup, that's right Arthor. You've got it. You are not limited to 10 cubic metres UNLESS some part of the structure is within 5 metres of your house. For so long as no part is within 5 metres, you are only limited in size as I posted above, viz. not more than 50% of the whole area not including your dwellinghouse and not more than 4 or 3 metres high, depending on the roof profile.

My shelter, for example, is about 5m by 8m, with a ridged roof about 3 metres high. That's about 100 cubic metres. Theoretically, and for so long as it occupies less than 50% of the area excluding the house (but including the entire plot on which it stands - front and rear), I can leave it standing for as long as I wish. I could also erect walls if I wished to.

There is no reference to temporary or permanent because that is rather a subjective thing. What is temporary to you may not be temporary enough to suit your neighbours. The advice I had from my local council planners was to stick to the rules under Class E and then it matters not whether it's temporary or permanent.

Perhaps the most limiting thing is the height limit when you are building a moderately large boat. However, JohnW cleared that one up for me by suggesting I add the keels and the skeg after I remove the hull from the shelter. I could, in fact, go up another metre in height - even now (by jacking the uprights higher) - and complete the hull entirely under the shelter. Where there's a will, there is usually a way.

Best wishes

[pjl83]

thats some good info mike. great post. ;) though as you say, putting the law aside - keeping the neighbours onside is the most important thing in these situations.

[Mike]

Sometimes, Paul, one has neighbours for whom nothing at all is reasonable about you building a boat in your backyard. But I agree that, where possible, you make the effort to keep 'em on side.

If that proves impossible, it is best to ensure there is little they can actually do to stop you. That means making sure the law has you in the right and not your neighbour. Not always as easy as it sounds. Depends sometimes on your local council.

Thus far, I have found mine very helpful indeed. That said, my father once had a council approve his boatbuilding then later reneg when a neighbour complained. It ended up in court. Fortunately, the judge was a top bloke. Deciding in favour of the neighbour because my father could not prove he had the council's okay (make sure you get anything you are told in writing), he asked how long before the hull would be finished. My father told him about six months - at most. And that is precisely how long the judge gave him to move the boat. There are some good guys out there among the judiciary! The story ended happily. But it could have been the other way so very easily. The boat in question was a 55' ketch!

[Mike]

JohnW put a great suggestion to me the other day that I thought I should share with the rest of you.

Having followed my progress on the shelter and noted that I had built it to house a stretched Rona Yawl rather than his new design concept, Rendezvous (http://backyardboatbuilding.org.uk/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=323&d=1240666331), he advised I would need about 3.5 metres of overhead clearance to turn her over. This meant either pulling her out from under the shelter, turning her over, and then backing her in again, OR:

Making the shelter's roof hinged on one side and liftable on t'other. Now that one really appealed to me. He's just brim full of great ideas, is my friend John Welsford. An innovative lateral thinker, he is, and extremely practical with it.

What I perhaps like most about this brilliant idea is that it will keep the roof profile low throughout the build (thus far less likely to offend the neighbours or invite inspections from the planning department of my local council) but will allow me to crank her up and down for when I want more clearance. Neat, don't you think?

I am looking around for suitable lifting gear. Those 24 sheets of corrugated plastic are not exactly lightweight, I can tell you. I reckon I could get this modification incorporated for just a few extra quid.

Thank you, John. You are an absolute star! :approval: