Adding A Porch

Cottage porch

A porch can be a very useful addition to a house; even a canopy will offer a surprising amount of shelter while you fumble for your keys.

A fully enclosed porch will stop all the heat escaping from the house on wintry days and can be a handy store for all those coats, galoshes and football boots that pile up in the hall. It’s an addition that usually doesn’t need planning permission though there are some exceptions.

Will You Need Planning Permission?

In England and Wales, as long as a porch doesn’t cover more than three square metres and is less than two metres from any boundary with a highway (this includes footpaths) you should not need planning permission.

You will need to apply for planning permission if you plan to include either a fuel store or a toilet, or if it the enclosure will cover any ventilation that connects from the inside of the house to the exterior.

Even if you do comply with the rules set out above, you may still need planning permission if your area is covered by any blanket restrictions, such as being under a conservation order or similar.

This can be checked out with your local planning office, which you can find in the telephone book.

One final word about planning permission is that regulations often change and it is wise to check the latest regulations directly with your local planners.

Enclosing a Recessed Front Door

There are a number of different types of porch and which one you are able to build will depend to a large extent on how your front entrance is treated at the moment.

If you have a recessed front door, as was popular with Victorian, Edwardian and Thirties suburban houses, you can simply block in that recess either with brickwork or glass, or a combination of the two.

Do be careful to keep it in keeping with the property, as you want it to enhance the house, not detract from it.

Consider moving the original front door to the outside, and putting the new door between the porch and house, which will help harmonise the new frontage.

Canopies

If you have a plain frontage and your house opens out pretty much onto the street, as in workers’ terraced houses from the turn of the century, you will probably only be able to consider a canopy mounted over the door.

Look at other examples in the street or nearby and pick something that blends in and fits the period.

Some houses have existing canopies that you might be able to infill with a combination of wood, brick or glass, but make sure a damp-proof course in incorporated.

Again, it’s important to get the style right, as a bad job on the entrance will immediately put new buyers off your home.

Full-Blown Porch

Many of the guidelines above apply just as much to a full-blown porch addition, that is, making sure the materials match the rest of the house and that the design complements it.

Think also about whether or not you can make entry to the house easier by putting the new door opening in the side rather than the front.

This may also give you more useable space in the finished porch. Again, using the existing front door in the new position and installing a new internal door in the existing front doorway may help integrity.

Assuming you will use a lot of glass in the porch to retain as much light as possible coming into the hallway, try to pick windows that match or complement those of the house.

Remember also that you will need proper foundations, even for an all-timber structure, and you must damp-proof the junction between the walls and those of the house, at the roof level and at the sides.

Take a Trip

If you doubt whether it is worthwhile trying to make the addition blend in, and you are tempted to install the cheapest windows and building materials you can find, take a tour round any development in your area that’s over fifty years old and assess the additions you will find there.

You’ll soon be able to pick out the design failures; don’t let your new porch become another one.

See Also
Traditional wooden conservatory
Tips & Advice on Adding Conservatories
Parked car
Pavements And Driveways

12 thoughts on “Adding A Porch”

  1. We have a terraced house on which we would like to add a porch hoping it will reduce traffic noise coming from the road. There are exactly two meters from where the porch would end to the beginning of a small fence with the pavement on the other side. The fence becomes a hedge further up. However, there is a footpath between the fence/hedge boundary and the houses. Can we still build a porch?

  2. We are buying a house where the boundary at the front of the house is approx 1.5m from front door. We would like to build an open canopy porch , approx 0.5m deep, with red brick half wall base, leaving front door in current location. As it is open and it is just the two small half walls that will be protruding ( already a copy over front door ) is this ok or do we need planning

  3. Hi I’ve build a porch to the front of my home, it a detached house with a garage that comes out 600mm passed the front of my house which is included in the square metres. do you included this measure in the square foot of a porch or not?? Many thanks.

  4. I am looking at building a porch within the 3 metres guidelines so not needing planning permission. It will have approx 750mm brick base with glazing above. What would be the recommended foundation size for such a build?

  5. We have a very small open porch. It has a small tiled roof with full length brick walls on either side leading to original front door. It also has tiling to the floor. We are thinking of closing the porch with a door for more draft proofing and security. Does it still need damp proofing of walls and floor if we are enclosing the porch?

  6. We were advised that gas regulations prevent us from adding a porch as we have the meter on the wall outside and a lintel cannot go across the gas main. Plus, we are not allowed to restrict access to the meter (not that they ever bother to come to read it). So we have been wondering how could we construct a porch that will comply – grateful for any ideas or advice.

  7. were looking to have a porch put on our house, but were unsure on weather were aloud two doors? by this is mean our main front door then another door to the side. our fence will meet the porch (so its secure for our dogs to enter and exit) has anyone else done this? or enquired before? thanks

  8. My house is a staggered house and is about 2.5 meters behind my neighbour’s house. I am wondering if I can build a larger Porch than the permitted 3 square meter one as this will help us a lot as we need more space for our children. any advice will help. ThanksKumar

  9. If you wish to build a larger porch than the permitted 3sq m, then as highlighted in the article you would need to seek planning permission. If you don’t, you will more than likely be forced to take it down.

  10. Hi I have just had a new brick porch with pitched roof added to my home the size meets with current permitted development and needed no planning approval. However I can’t find any recent 2015/16 info on the web regarding PP if I open up the porch by simply removing the internal door (used to be original entry to the house).

    As regulations have relaxed over the last few years I was wondering if anyone had any updates on if I need to go to planning or not? If I ask the question to the local authority they will direct me to submitting an enquiry and charge me £30 for the trouble. Thanks

  11. We recently built a small porch on shares access to prevent us from draught. The space left is significantly massive to allow any in and out of any vehicle. However, the next door property owner frowns at it. Please, advise on what to do. Many thanks

  12. It is a little late for advice, as prior to building the porch you should have asked and have been granted permission from the other party to build and if it is in any way preventing access, you can be asked to take it down.

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