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Q&As
Do I need Planning Permission for a Temporary Canopy Above a Caravan?
I am currently living in a caravan on a plot of land where some friends are building their new home, while I search for land to build a beautiful eco tree house (preferably with something small and ugly on it that I can exchange for planning permission). My friends are still living in their old house. So far so good, as far as we know no planning permission is needed, and my caravan on their land is just a temporary arrangement anyway.
But what if I wish to build a shelter for this caravan? I would like to protect it from the coming heavy winter rains: the noise of raindrops is somehow tremendously amplified, and with the caravan being 15 years old, I fear dampness/leaks.
The shelter would be made of wooden posts and transparent corrugated sheets to keep the light coming in through the roof windows. No walls - just a transparent roof on posts, which I would dismount to rebuild on my own land once I'll be working on my treehouse.
However, my friends have a fussy neighbour just above their new land, and we wonder if it could be an issue in case he turns out to request the council to interfere (the kind of thing he would be quite likely to do). I don't want to put my friends in trouble, so am I allowed to build a temporary shelter without planning permission?
Many thanks for your advice!
3 Answers
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for your question. I’ve reached out to our Build It experts for comment and will come back with an answer ASAP.
Best wishes,
Anamika Talwaria (Build It features editor)
The first question here is whether you need permission for the caravan itself. Siting a caravan normally requires planning permission, although this can be permitted development in certain circumstances. These include where the caravan is housing someone temporarily involved in a building project.
Although your friends are building, it’s not clear if you have a role in their build. If not, then its likely you require permission.
The caravan shelter would undoubtedly need permission, as it would be a building, albeit a very simple one. Bear in mind that if the council got after you, the worst that could happen would be an enforcement notice requiring you to vacate the site.
It is unlikely this would create trouble for your friends, as long as you either complied with the notice, or appealed against it, the latter buying you several more months on site…
Mike Dade (Build It planning expert)
Thank you Mike, that was undoubtedly very enlightening!