Planning Approval…
If the building is going in your garden you don't need planning permission but you might want to send the letter below to the Council for assurance. In some cases you may want to contact your local Council and get a ‘Permitted Development Right’ or ‘Certificate of Lawfulness’ for your Mobile Home. This is like planning permission but you don’t have to submit plans. If you want to put a Mobile Home anywhere other than your garden you will need to contact your local council for a Certificate of Lawfulness. This would include any agricultural land jointed to your property and woodland.
Putting a Mobile Home in your garden (up to 6.8x20m) falls under the same law as parking a touring caravan in your drive. So long as it remains moveable and is not someone’s sole or primary residence, it will be acceptable. You can put a Mobile Home in your garden without the need for planning or approval, so long as you’re not in a conservation area and their remains a relationship between the main house and the Mobile.
Residential Mobile Homes in the Garden…
Putting a Mobile Home in your garden falls within the primary use of the dwelling house. If a caravan is just used for sleeping purposes by a family member it is ancillary and you don’t need any approval. If, however, it is capable of being used as a separate residence, it is not. There must be an interaction between the two buildings that involves a significant degree of dependence onfacilities provided from the main house. This means the people who stay in the building must also have access or a relationship with to the main house, like they take meals there, have their belonging stored there, use the facilities etc.
Contacting the Council…
When dealing with your local Council it helps if you use the word Caravan and not Mobile Home (remember a caravan can be 6.8x20m that can be up to 6 bedrooms). When filling out any forms don’t use words like garden structure, lodge or summerhouse, just say caravan. If the building is going in your garden and the use is ancillary you don't need planning but you may want to write to your Council anyway. This is an example letter, please feel free to cut and paste it...
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to inform you of my intention to site a caravan in my garden at (your address).
I understand that I do not need planning permission for this but thought it advisable to check before proceeding.
The caravan will be sited in the actual grounds of the house and will be used by family members and guests in addition to the use of the main house. As an extra bedroom / dayroom it will fall within the primary use of the dwelling house.
The caravan will not be separately metered and relies on the services from the main house. The caravan will be positioned in the curtilage of the building i.e. the garden, not in surrounding paddocks or farmland.
The caravan will be used in a manner ancillary to the main property. It is not someone’s separate dwelling. Guests or family members who stay in the caravan can have meals and store belongings in the main residence and will use the caravan only for occasional sleeping purposes and daytime activities. Any use of the caravan will vitally depend on a connection with the main house.
The caravan falls under the current legal definition of a caravan set in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, 1968 and the 2006 amendment.
I look forward to your reply.
Many Thanks,
(name).
Actual Legal Planning Definition for Caravans in the Garden...
A caravan (as defin.29 of the Caravan Sites & Control of Development) may be parked temporarily (in the same manner as a car) within the curtilage of a domestic property without the need for planning permission, unless there are conditions limiting conditions applied when the house was built. This is more commonplace in modern housing estates.*
A caravan may also be used in a manner ancillary to the residential property; that is, in addition to the use of the house, but not as someone's separate dwelling. You can use a caravan as, say, a granny annex, but it must not become someone's "only or main residence". There must remain a relationship between the caravan and the house, so, for example, meals could be taken in the house. Use the caravan simply in the manner of an extra room / bedroom. Make sure it remains moveable.
*Check to make sure your property deeds do not restrict this permitted development right; particularly on more modern estates or where the council has issued an Article 4 Direction – common in Conservation Areas.
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