Can I Have A Toilet And Shower In My Garden Room?

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Firstly you need to think about whether that toilet or shower is is actually a part of, say, a gym, for example, because you would reasonably expect to find a toilet and a shower as part of a gym. Equally, if it was a workshop, you might want to have somewhere where you can wash your hands etc. But reflecting back on one of the previous videos - I'm assuming people have watched those - think about your sofa bed.
So let's imagine if you have a sofa bed in a Garden Room, for example, and that sofa bed folds out and becomes a bed. You have to think, if you have a toilet and a shower in there, then the council might be considering that that then triggers the need for a planning application, because it changes the nature of the unit. It changes the nature of the outbuilding to something that certainly looks and smells a lot like it could be there for ancillary purposes, not incidental purposes. So you just need to be mindful of that.
The same with a swimming pool, for example. You would reasonably expect to find a shower associated with a swimming pool, or certainly a toilet as well, so so those would end up being uses that would be acceptable. So you can see how having the same porcelain apparatus could be interpreted in different ways, depending on how the rest of the outbuilding is used.
So it's not as easy a question to answer as you might imagine. But suffice to say that if you do have overnight accommodation, you would reasonably expect to find a toilet and a shower in association with that, and that would in both instances require planning permission.
But don't be put off by that, because around 90 percent of planning applications of this nature - certainly of householder nature - are approved. And they are all assessed on a case-by-case basis, so the Planning Authority here will be looking at what harm could arise as a result of this building being used for ancillary accommodation - of thinking that here they'll be acting in the in the wider public interest of your neighbours for example.
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For more information, see our other videos featuring Planning Consultant Mark Doodes.
Recorded February 2023. This content does not constitute formal advice from New Garden Room Company or Mark Doodes Planning.