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What are the rules for installing a septic tank in the garden?
Installing a new septic tank in your garden will often require both planning permission, building regulations approval and a septic tank permit.
The planning permission will ensure that the tank is installed in an appropriate location with information being provided to understand any potential implications for the surrounding environment and water.
Building regulations is required for the installation of a septic tank to ensure it meets the drainage and waste disposal standards set out in Approved Document H.
Where possible it is recommended that you connect to an existing public sewer instead of installing a septic tank, this reduces waste entering the waterways.
For more information visit our drains common project or contact your local planning authority.
Common Questions
A 'listed building' is a building, object or structure in the UK that has been considered as of national importance in terms of architectural or historic interest and included on a register called the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.
Buildings are listed to help protect the physical evidence of our past, including buildings, which are valued and protected as a central part of our cultural heritage and our sense of identity. Historic buildings also add to the quality of our lives, being an important aspect of the character and appearance of our towns, villages, and countryside.
There are three listing grades:
- Grade I - Buildings of exceptional interest
- Grade II* - Particularly important and more than special interest
- Grade III - Buildings of special interest, warranting every effort being made to preserve them (this is the most common)
If you live in a listed building it means you cannot demolish or alter the building in a way that changes its character without Listed Building Consent.
If you plan to put up a small, detached building like a garden shed, garden room, garden office, annexe or summerhouse (all classed as outbuildings), building regulations generally won’t apply if the building has a floor area under 15 square metres and does not include any sleeping accommodation.
For buildings with a floor area between 15 and 30 square metres, building regulations approval is usually not needed - as long as the building does not include sleeping accommodation and either:
- it is at least one metre away from any boundary, or
- it is built mainly from non-combustible materials.
Read more about the building regulations that apply to outbuildings.
Don't forget to check the permitted development rights for outbuildings.
Significant changes to insulation and thermal elements would normally require building regulations approval. The extent to which this applies depends on the existing insulation and what it will be replaced with.
If the work is completed by a member of a competent persons scheme, then an application for approval will not be required.
Find out more about insulation and building regulations on our common projects.
If you want formal confirmation that the existing use of a building is lawful for planning purposes, or that your proposed development does not require planning permission, you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate(LDC). An LDC can be useful in situations where you need assurance that a particular use, operation, or development is lawful under planning legislation.
Read more about Lawful Development Certificates.
Applications for a Lawful Development Certificate can be submitted online to your local council using Planning Portal. You must include enough detail and evidence to support your case; if the information is insufficient, your application may be refused.
You can usually put up new fences, gates or garden walls without planning permission, as long as you stay within permitted height limits. If the structure is adjacent to a highway (including footpaths), it must not exceed one metre in height. For all other boundaries, the maximum permitted height is two metres. Anything taller than these limits will require planning permission.
Read more about fences, gates and garden walls.
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