Front garden and driveway guidance

Front gardens are important for your health, your community, and the environment.

Paving over front gardens with impermeable materials such as concrete or tarmac stops rainwater soaking into the ground. This increases surface water runoff, which can overwhelm drains and cause flooding.

  • one impermeable double driveway can produce 1,170 litres of runoff during rainfall
  • 100 impermeable driveways can produce 117,000 litres of floodwater
  • in Great Britain, 55% of front gardens were paved in 2025

Planning permission requirement

You may need planning permission for paving in your front garden.

You must apply for planning permission if:

  • the paved area is more than 5 square metres, and
  • the surface is not permeable, and
  • water does not drain to a permeable area in your garden

This requirement is set out in Class F of the General Permitted Development Order.

If you do not get permission when required:

  • the council may take enforcement action
  • you may have problems selling your property

Further guidance

Unpave the Way project

Visit the Unpave the Way project at The Flood Hub for practical ideas for your front garden and driveway, this includes:

  • permeable paving options to allow rainwater to drain naturally
  • sustainable drainage (SuDS) solutions
  • rainwater harvesting ideas
  • low maintenance planting list for wet and dry soil conditions