Planning
Do You Need Planning Permission for a Garage or Garden Room?
June 2026 · ~6 min read
The height and boundary rules explained for England, Scotland and Wales — plus when you need a Lawful Development Certificate.
Ideas & guides
The VeltHaven Blog
Practical guides on planning, installing, and getting the most from your garden building — written by the people who build them.
Planning & buying guides
Building regulations
Do You Need Building Regulations Approval for a Garage or Garden Room?
July 2026 · ~6 min read
The size and boundary rule explained for England, Scotland and Wales — and why the electrics need sign-off even when the building is exempt.
Buying guide
Garden Room vs Extension: Which Adds Space Better?
July 2026 · ~6 min read
An honest side-by-side on cost per m², planning, disruption and resale — and when each one is the right call.
Uncategorized
Metal Garage Sizes UK: What Fits What (2026)
July 21, 2026
The most common metal garage sizing mistake in the UK isn’t buying too small a garage — it’s buying one that technically fits the car and practically fits nothing else. A garage door closes on the car; it doesn’t open the car’s doors, walk past it with a bin, or leave room for a workbench. […]
Uncategorized
Metal vs Wooden Garage: The Honest Comparison (2026)
July 21, 2026
Metal vs wooden garage is really a maintenance question wearing a materials costume. Timber looks warmer on day one; steel looks the same on day one and day five thousand — and the years in between are where the two products separate. The comparison comes down to five things — lifespan, upkeep, security, cost and […]
Uncategorized
Metal Garage Prices UK (2026): What All-In Really Costs
July 21, 2026
Metal garage prices in the UK run from a few hundred pounds for a flat-pack tin shed to £30,000+ for a large insulated steel building — and most advertised prices sit somewhere dishonest in between: a headline figure that excludes the base, the door, delivery or installation. Here’s how the market really prices out in […]
Uncategorized
Are Metal Garages Any Good? An Honest Look (2026)
July 21, 2026
Search “are metal garages any good” and you’ll find two very different answers — because “metal garage” covers two very different products. A thin corrugated tin shed and an engineered steel-frame garage are both “metal”, and one of them has earned the category a poor reputation. The five-minute version: how to tell them apart, what […]
How it works
Site Access for Garden Buildings: Delivery, Photos & What We Check (2026)
July 17, 2026
The question almost nobody asks before ordering a garden building — and absolutely everybody asks after: “how does it actually get into the garden?” It’s a better question than most of the ones that fill comparison guides, because access is the one truly site-specific part of the whole process. Below: how VeltHaven buildings arrive, what […]
Garden Rooms
Garden Rooms & Neighbours: Overlooking, Privacy and Keeping the Peace (2026)
July 17, 2026
Nobody plans a neighbour dispute. They start small: a building that appeared without warning, a window that seems to look straight into a kitchen, a vague sense of “they might have asked.” Most garden buildings never cause one, and the ones that do are usually avoidable with choices made before the order, not apologies after […]
Garden Rooms
Garden Office Council Tax & Business Rates: What Applies? (2026)
July 17, 2026
Two questions come up as soon as a garden office stops being an idea and starts being a plan: “will my council tax go up?” and “will I get hit with business rates?” For the overwhelming majority of people working from a garden office, the general position is reassuring. But there are real exceptions, and […]
Garages
Insulating a Steel Garage: Retrofit or Buy Insulated? (2026)
July 17, 2026
A common question a year or two after buying a steel garage: “can I insulate it?” Usually the trigger is a new use: a workshop that got serious, a home gym idea, a car worth protecting properly. The straight answer: yes, you can retrofit insulation into a steel garage, and for some uses it’s worth […]
Garden Rooms
Garden Room Condensation: Why It Happens & How to Stop It (2026)
July 17, 2026
Condensation is the quiet killer of cheap garden buildings. It shows up as wet windows in the morning, then damp corners, then mould on the things you stored — and by the time you can smell it, it’s been happening for months. The good news: it’s not bad luck, it’s physics, and a properly built […]
Garages
Steel vs Concrete Sectional Garage: Which Is Better? (2026)
July 5, 2026
The concrete sectional garage is a British institution — panel-built, bolted together on a slab, standing at the end of driveways since the 1960s. Modern steel garages — the engineered end of the metal garage market — compete for exactly the same job. Below is how they actually compare in 2026, including where the concrete […]
Garden Rooms
Running a Business from a Garden Office: Rules & Basics (2026)
July 5, 2026
Thousands of UK businesses are run from the bottom of the garden — freelancers, consultants, therapists, small studios. Mostly it’s simple. But “working from a garden office” and “running a business customers visit” sit differently in planning, insurance and tax. Below is a plain map of what’s fine by default and what needs a phone […]
Garden Rooms
Garden Room Electrics: What You Need & Who Fits It (2026)
July 5, 2026
A garden room without power is a shed with better glazing. Getting electricity to it properly is a legal matter, not just a practical one — outdoor circuits are covered by Building Regulations. Here’s what a compliant installation involves, what it typically costs, and which parts VeltHaven handles. The short answer Yes, you need a […]