Can the Front of a Property Be Converted to a Driveway?
If you own a property with a front garden and on-street parking is becoming a problem, you may wonder whether it’s viable to create a driveway on your premises instead. It makes a certain amount of sense – insurers often regard vehicles as being less vulnerable if they’re on driveways rather than the public road, so if you have the space, it may well be an option. But what do you need to think about before you take the plunge?
Cross Overs and Surface Materials
First of all, you need a dropped kerb – these are also known as cross overs – to ensure you neither damage your vehicle nor the public access pavement when driving into your property. For permission for this, you will need to apply to the local council. They will have their own approved contractors to carry out the work, and provided they can be sure that you can enter or leave the property safely – without causing danger to yourself, other traffic or pedestrians, they will arrange for the work to be carried out.
Then, check you have permitted development rights – and indeed space to park a car or other vehicle on your land! For the standard car, you’ll need at least 2.4m by 4.8m of free land, and the car when parked must not overhang the pavement.
Your next decision comes in your choice of materials. There are various surfaces available when it comes to driveways, the most common being block paving, tarmacking and resin surfaces. Which you select very often comes down to personal choice, but it’s best to spend as much as you can afford to ensure you don’t end up with an unsightly surface that damages your property’s kerb appeal. This could devalue your home if you come to try and sell it in future.
Take SuDS Into Account to Protect Your Local Environment
One major consideration will be the sustainable drainage systems regulations, often known as SuDS. These seek to avoid the increasingly common problem of flooding. Natural surfaces absorb rainwater into the soil where it harmlessly diverts away from properties and ultimately ends up in streams and rivers. But impermeable surfaces allow water to pool and stand, which can eventually cause flooding. SuDS regulations therefore state that new driveways must be constructed of porous materials to avert that risk. Your options include porous block paving, permeable tarmacking, gravel or porous resin surfaces.
Provided you choose a suitable surface that allows rainwater to drain away naturally, planning permission for a driveway is not usually required. If, however, you intend to cover more than five square metres of your front garden with a non-permeable driveway, you will need to seek planning permission, which will specify drainage requirements – and this will cost extra money, not to mention time.
If you’re considering driveways in Brighton, Burgess Hill or Hassocks, or beyond in wider East or West Sussex, it’s a good idea to take advice from a reputable driveways expert, like J Davies Building Ltd. Do this before you invest time and money in the project and we’ll ensure you make the right decisions. Also contact us for general building work including groundworks, line painting and more.