Do Temporary Buildings Need Planning Permission?

So, you quite like the idea of temporary buildings for your business. But you’ve just found out you might need planning permission – and suddenly you’re not so sure.

Don’t let the possible planning implications of a temporary building project make you ditch the idea and revert back to off-site leasing or investing in a new build.

After all the thought of losing the time, cost and disruption associated with both options was probably what led you to temporary buildings in the first place. And these are valid and true reasons.

So how would planning affect you and your project, would you actually need it and why shouldn’t you let it put you off using temporary buildings?

Simple. Seek professional advice. And without wanting to thrust a sales pitch at you, the easiest way to do this is through us. We work hand in hand with a UK Planning Consultancy who specialise in temporary building projects. They will take an initial look at your project to see if temporary building planning permission is going to be needed and what will be involved.

Simple as that. And, once you have all the facts you can go away and decide how and if you want to proceed.

Issues they will consider include: interim use of the building in relation to a larger project, boundaries, building height, floor space, parking areas and more.

If you choose to have a professional gain permission on your behalf it won’t have much impact at all. There will be a small fee to add to the overall project costs and you may have to supply a small amount of information regarding the project. Timescales shouldn’t be affected and everything will be done for you.

If you choose to bravely (but potentially blindly) plunge into the world of planning yourself you may find the timescales and overall headache increases. Enough said…

Many companies however find a middle ground and are able to draw on in-house expertise. The affect on the project again becomes minimal. Control of the application stays internal. And, you benefit from the expertise of someone used to liaising with council officials. You don’t however benefit from someone with knowledge of temporary building applications.

In our opinion if you need planning permission then by far the easiest way is to use our or an experienced Consultant. The Consultants we partner with are hugely experienced in temporary building planning applications. This means they are quick, efficient, accurate, stress free and pretty much always successful.

Many people discover temporary buildings when they are looking for alternatives to leasing space off-site or investing in a permanent building. They’ve had enough of the logistics and high fuel bills and don’t fancy the cost, commitment and delay of a new build.

Temporary buildings fall into this gap. They keep everything under one roof, allow you to increase or reduce space at the drop of a hat, cost a fraction of a permanent structure, can be installed in under a week, can be hired or purchased and used for six months or ten years and over.

These benefits are genuine, lasting and unaffected by any planning requirements.

What next?

So hopefully you’re now back on track with temporary buildings. The off-site leasing and new build issues can once again be shelved and you can look forward to fast, easy, affordable, flexible on-site space.