Our client owned a mid-terraced Victorian house with a small rear garden of approximately 45m². They wanted a modest timber shed measuring 3m × 2.5m (7.5m²) with a pent (mono-pitched) roof at 2.3m maximum height, shiplap cladding, a single window and door, positioned at the rear of the garden against the boundary wall.
The critical issue was curtilage coverage. An existing single-storey rear extension already occupied a significant portion of the available curtilage. Adding even a small shed risked breaching the 50% coverage rule under Class E of the GPDO 2015. The client’s neighbour had previously been refused planning permission for a similar shed and warned our client not to bother.
We carried out a precise curtilage coverage calculation using Ordnance Survey mapping and measured survey data. The total curtilage (excluding the original house footprint) was 52m². Existing coverage from the rear extension and a small coal bunker was 18m². Adding the 7.5m² shed brought total coverage to 25.5m² — exactly 49% of curtilage. Every square metre counted.
“The total area of ground covered by buildings, enclosures, containers and pools within the curtilage (other than the original dwellinghouse) must not exceed 50% of the total area of the curtilage (excluding the ground area of the original dwellinghouse).”
We prepared a CLD application with a meticulous curtilage coverage calculation as the centrepiece. The annotated site plan showed every existing structure, its footprint measurement, and the cumulative total. The supporting letter demonstrated compliance with each Class E criterion and explained why the neighbour’s earlier refusal was not a precedent — that application had been for a larger shed which would have exceeded the 50% threshold.
CLD approved by Bristol City Council within 5 weeks. The precise curtilage coverage calculation was the key to this case — without it, the client would have been unable to demonstrate compliance and would likely have abandoned the project following the neighbour’s discouraging advice. This case illustrates why professional planning advice matters even for a modest shed: the difference between 49% and 51% curtilage coverage is the difference between a lawful building and an enforcement notice.
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