DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

We have recently acquired a listed cottage in an area of outstanding natural beauty, which comes with a strip of land/garden across a small lane behind the cottage. The garden, which runs between the gardens of two other houses, is approx 80ft long by 20ft wide. We would like to erect a log cabin as a summerhouse/home office, which measures approx 5m by 4m and has a pitched roof which, at its highest, is 2.8m (9ft 3").
Our neighbour bordering one side has a fence measuring 4ft with a 2ft trellis on top. Both our gardens back onto pretty fields. We don't want to upset anyone, but from a legal point of view could the height of this log cabin be a problem?
The cabin will not be erected at the end of the garden, ie obstructing the field views, but in the middle, and is also made of natural wood, which will be painted light oak, with a moss green tiled roof.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we have already put a deposit on the cabin!
Many thanks
TC

[quote="tc"]We have recently acquired a listed cottage in an area of outstanding natural beauty, which comes with a strip of land/garden across a small lane behind the cottage. The garden, which runs between the gardens of two other houses, is approx 80ft long by 20ft wide. We would like to erect a log cabin as a summerhouse/home office, which measures approx 5m by 4m and has a pitched roof which, at its highest, is 2.8m (9ft 3").
Our neighbour bordering one side has a fence measuring 4ft with a 2ft trellis on top. Both our gardens back onto pretty fields. We don't want to upset anyone, but from a legal point of view could the height of this log cabin be a problem?
The cabin will not be erected at the end of the garden, ie obstructing the field views, but in the middle, and is also made of natural wood, which will be painted light oak, with a moss green tiled roof.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we have already put a deposit on the cabin!
Many thanks
TC[/quote]

The height of the cabin is fine the max when fully erected must be under 3m including foundations. The foundations must not be permanent so I would suggest using concret blocks on level ground. You can always phone your local building control officer to just comfirm its OK to erect a cabin within your garden giving measurements with foundations and ask him to confirm it in writing.
When postioning a cabin I would always say look at it from your neighbours point of view, would the windows of the cabin allow the persons inside see directly into their house if it has steps or porch to sit on would it allow the person to over look the fence and see their full garden this is assuming that nothing grows along the trellis.