Veranda or verandah: do I need planning permission?

Verandah or veranda, however you spell it, it is one of the most misunderstood things you can add to a house in planning terms. People often assume a veranda can use the same permitted development right as a modest rear extension. That is the trap: where the works amount to development and are properly a veranda, Class A specifically excludes them. A plain extension of the same footprint might therefore be permitted development while a veranda needs another lawful planning route.

Why a veranda is not permitted development

The permitted development right for house extensions is Class A of Part 1 of the GPDO. It lets you enlarge a house without a planning application, within limits. But one of those limits is explicit: the enlarged part must not include a veranda, a balcony or a raised platform. A “raised platform” here means anything more than 300mm above the ground. So the moment your project is a veranda – a roofed, raised deck running along the outside of the house – it falls outside Class A. It is not that the veranda breaks a size limit; it is excluded from the right by name.

The practical result is that a structure which is properly a veranda cannot rely on Class A. That does not mean the word ‘veranda’ automatically creates a planning application requirement: first ask whether the proposed works amount to development at all. Where they do, another planning permission or permitted development right would be needed because Class A cannot authorise the veranda.

Why the materials condition does not rescue a veranda

The key point is the express Class A exclusion: if the enlarged part includes a veranda, Class A does not grant permission for it. The separate A.3(a) condition requiring exterior materials to have a similar appearance to those of the existing dwellinghouse only matters where the development is otherwise within Class A. Matching the veranda to the house therefore does not turn an excluded veranda into permitted development. If a proposed covered structure is genuinely something other than a veranda and otherwise falls within Class A, the materials condition must then be considered in the usual way.

Veranda, balcony, decking or pergola – which is it?

The words get used loosely, and the planning treatment differs, so it is worth being clear:

• a veranda is a roofed, usually raised gallery or platform running along the outside of the house at ground level – excluded from Class A
• a balcony is a raised platform with a rail projecting from an upper storey – also excluded from Class A (a Juliet balcony, with no platform to stand on, is generally fine)
• decking is a raised platform on the ground – permitted only up to 300mm high; above that it is a raised platform and loses the right
• a pergola is an open framework with no solid roof, treated as a garden outbuilding rather than an extension, and usually permitted development

The GPDO excludes verandas and balconies by name. It also separately excludes a raised platform, with ‘raised’ meaning more than 300mm above ground level. So decking or another platform can fail because of the 300mm rule, while a veranda or balcony does not need to cross that threshold to be caught by the express exclusion.

When you will need to apply

If the proposed veranda amounts to development, Class A will not grant planning permission for it because verandas are expressly excluded. A householder planning application will therefore commonly be required unless another lawful route applies. An application is particularly likely where:

• the home is a flat or maisonette, which do not have these rights
• the property is listed – listed building consent is likely to be needed as well
• the home is in a conservation area, National Park, National Landscape or other designated land, where design and heritage policies may be more restrictive
• the veranda faces, or is close to, a highway

What it costs, and confirming your position

If you apply, this is a householder application. Fees are set nationally and change from time to time, so we do not quote a figure – see our guide to planning application fees. If you are genuinely unsure whether what you are building counts as a veranda or a plain extension, a certificate of lawfulness for proposed works is the way to get the council’s view in writing before you commit.

If the council refuses

If a householder application is refused, you can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate – and note that householder appeals run to a tighter deadline than most, so do not delay. Our guide to planning appeals sets out the process and the timescales.

Should you build a veranda at all?

If your heart is set on a covered, raised veranda, go in expecting to apply – it is not a permitted development shortcut. If what you actually want is shade and somewhere to sit out, an open pergola or a ground-level patio will usually get you there without a planning application. It is worth deciding what you are really after before you design something that needs permission when a simpler structure would not.

Other Common Projects

Veranda Planning Permission Page Updated: 24th August 2026