In Scotland, adding a prefabricated concrete garage to your home brings many benefits. But one question looms: is it a permitted development?
The good news is that the answer is generally a resounding “Yes.” Under Scotland’s Permitted Development rights, concrete garages can generally be built without the need of special approval. So let’s unpack the basic rules. At its core, Permitted Development (PD) allows the erector of “ancillary buildings” like garages if they’re incidental to your dwelling house; that is to say a building that’s intended for storage or parking, not a granny flat! For prefabricated concrete garages, classified as temporary structures due to their modular design, the Permitted Development rules are very generous.
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992, updated in 2021, lays out what is and isn’t allowed.
Key considerations include location: position your concrete garage at the “back” of your house (behind the original building line), not forward of the principal elevation or in the side boundary if it fronts a road. This keeps it discreet enough from street views. Then there’s the size and coverage: the garage’s footprint, plus any existing outbuildings, mustn’t exceed 50% of your rear curtilage (garden area, excluding the house itself). No strict upper limit on square footage exists under PD, so a spacious 6x5m double garage should be fine if space allows. As far as height is concerned, eaves are to be no higher than 2.5m if within 1m of a boundary; an overall maximum of 4m for pitched roofs or 3m for flat ones. Prefabricated concrete garage designs are usually well within these parameters and so permits are not required. If there’s no plumbing and it isn’t a separate habitation, you should be fine.
Concrete garages boast rapid installs (as quick as one day) and eco-friendly concrete panels. Scotland’s permitted development rules and building regulations favour such structures, promoting home enhancements without bureaucracy. Still, site-specific checks will prevent costly infringements of specific local rules, and the specialists at Precast Garages Scotland will be happy to run a postcode audit for you.
Call Precast Garages Scotland on 0800 038 5825 or 01563 590010 today, or drop us a line at info@precastgarages.co.uk.