Driveway rule in force in England 'can be quite an issue'

Driveway rule in force in England 'can be quite an issue' If you're thinking about upgrading your driveway, there are several factors to consider People across England have been alerted to some little-known rules. Thousands of homeowners renovate their driveways each year without realising they may need to take drainage regulations and planning requirements into account. Under SuDS (sustainable drainage systems) compliance, a new driveway exceeding 5sqm generally needs to be permeable or channel water towards a suitable drainage area to help prevent flooding and reduce pressure on public drainage networks. This allows rainwater to naturally filter into the ground beneath, unlike conventional asphalt driveways, which cause water to run off into public drainage systems. For concerned homeowners, paving specialists Amy Andrews, managing director, and Andy McLaughlin, sales and operations director at RF Paving, shared their expert knowledge on their podcast Paving The Way, outlining what homeowners should be aware of when considering a driveway upgrade. Three common driveway mistakes homeowners make Thinking only about appearance While you might be keen to skip straight to the finished result of your driveway project, prioritising functionality and drainage is essential to ensure you're not falling foul of any regulations. Amy said: "I think people focus on what it's going to look like at the end, and the drainage is a bit of an afterthought, thinking it's like skirting boards in your house. They just happen, you don't think about them too much. They're there for a purpose. And I feel like with drainage, it can actually be quite an issue if not done properly." Andy added: "Certain driveways can be illegal and there are certain things that you have to consider before making any changes. Anything over five square metres when you're inputting a driveway, you generally need planning permission to do that. There are various different things to consider such as drainage and where that surface water is going to go." Overlooking what lies beneath Homeowners frequently treat driveway renovations as a single-layer project rather than considering the entire system as a whole. Taking into account the layers beneath your driveway is essential to ensuring regulations are being met, rather than concentrating purely on the surface appearance. Andy shed light on why porcelain paving needn't be ruled out when upgrading your driveway. Andy said: "Your paving itself doesn't need to be permeable, but your paving system does. So the actual paving slab itself is non-porous, 0.00 for porosity and doesn't let water go through it, it'd be the jointing compound. The jointing compound and all the things below it is what lets the water through." Amy added: "The issue is when you're thinking about the top layer, you can't use porcelain because if the sub base and everything's not prepped to be permeable, it's irrelevant what's on the top. So I think if you are, when you're planning it, you've got to plan it from the ground up. "You can set all the drainage up, you can set everything with your layers up, making sure it's permeable. If it's draining the wrong way and it's not drained into the correct things that are set up, then it's pointless really." Forgetting where water will go While there's no fixed maximum penalty for breaching regulations, councils have the power to issue an enforcement notice to uphold SuDS regulations. Planning permission must be submitted if you're laying a driveway exceeding 5sqm using impermeable and non-porous surfacing materials, such as concrete, asphalt, and porcelain paving slabs. "It should be one of the first things that you think about," said Andy. "The regulations are there and they will advise you. You might not like what they're advising at times, but you've always got to check with the council before you do any work." Amy added: "If it's over five square metres between your house and the frontage, if that is not running to a permeable area, then that's when it can become illegal. All the runoff water that's happening on your patio, your driveway, or anywhere around your house needs to be running into your own property and not into the highway."