In short
Usually not, provided the water is dealt with. Since 2008 the Planning Portal's rule for front gardens has been that you do not need planning permission for a driveway of any size if it uses a permeable surface, or if the rain from it drains to a lawn or border on your own land. Laying more than five square metres of non-permeable surface that drains to the road or a drain needs a planning application. The same rules apply in West Sussex as everywhere else in England, and a new dropped kerb is a separate approval from the highway authority.
This is a job for our Driveways service.
The rule in plain terms
The government changed the permitted development rules in October 2008 because paved front gardens were sending rain straight into road drains and adding to flooding. GOV.UK's guidance says the hard surfacing of more than five square metres of a domestic front garden is permitted development only where the surface is made permeable. The Planning Portal puts it the other way round: you will not need planning permission for a new or replacement driveway of any size if it uses a permeable surface, or if the water runs to a lawn or border to drain naturally.
What counts as permeable
The Planning Portal lists gravel, permeable concrete block paving and porous asphalt as examples, and treats a conventional surface that drains onto a lawn or planted border as acceptable too. That last point is the one most people miss. A normal tarmac or block-paved drive is fine without permission if it falls towards a border or lawn on your own property that can take the water.
| Surface | Needs planning permission? |
|---|---|
| Gravel, permeable block paving, porous asphalt or resin-bound of any size | No |
| Tarmac, tar and chip or standard block paving draining to your own lawn or border | No |
| Tarmac or standard block paving over five square metres draining to the road or a drain | Yes |
Things the rule does not cover
- The dropped kerb. Lowering the kerb to cross the pavement is a highways matter, not a planning one, and needs consent from West Sussex County Council as highway authority before anyone touches the footway. The Planning Portal notes it may also need planning permission where the road is classified.
- Listed buildings and conservation areas. Permitted development can be restricted; check with Horsham District Council or your own district first.
- Drives that are not the front garden. The five-metre rule is written for front gardens. Side and rear areas have different considerations.
- Flats and new estates. Some properties have permitted development removed by condition, which the deeds or the original planning permission will show.
What we do about it on a job
Drainage decides whether a drive needs permission, and it also decides whether the drive lasts, so we design it first. On the Wealden clay around Horsham a border does not always take water well in winter, and where it will not we specify a permeable construction or a channel drain to a soakaway rather than send the water to the road. The quote says which, so you can see the drive is compliant before it is built. If a dropped kerb is needed we tell you before work starts so the council application can go in first.