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Shepherd's hut planning permission

Whether you need permission depends on two things: whether your hut counts as a caravan or a building, and what you use it for.

Updated 23 October 2026

A black and white photo of a timber hut on wheels with a small porch in a field

The short answer: in law, a shepherd's hut on wheels that can be moved in one piece is usually a caravan, not a building.¹ In England and Wales (and similarly in Scotland), a caravan in your garden, used as an office, hobby room or spare room for the household, normally needs no planning permission and no site licence.²³ Letting it to paying guests, or living in it as a separate home, normally does need permission.⁴⁵

Is a hut a caravan or a building?

Planning law treats caravans and buildings very differently, so this is the first question. A caravan is "any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another", whether towed or carried on a lorry or trailer.⁶ A unit made in up to two parts and bolted together on site still counts, if it could be moved by road once assembled and stays within 20m long, 6.8m wide and 3.05m high inside.⁷

Planners generally treat shepherd's huts as caravans. The Royal Town Planning Institute says "caravan" typically includes "pods, shepherd's huts", while warning that some units may instead be buildings.¹ Dartmoor National Park says the legal position "varies" with the hut and the circumstances.⁸

Two appeal decisions show where the line falls:

A converted caravan stayed a caravan because it could be lifted onto a trailer and rested on its own weight, not fixed to the ground. The inspector stressed that the test is whether it is capable of being moved, not whether anyone intends to move it.⁹
A large garden structure built on a concrete base and timber sub-frame, connected to services, was likely not a caravan, because it couldn't be moved without being taken apart. Putting it up counted as building work needing permission.¹⁰

In practice, keep the hut on its own chassis and wheels, off fixed foundations, and capable of being moved in one piece. That makes it much more likely to count as a caravan, but the council decides on the facts, including how it's connected to services.

A hut in your garden

Using land around your house "for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse" is not development, so it doesn't need planning permission.² A hut that is legally a caravan, sited in your garden and used by your household as an office, hobby room or occasional spare room, can therefore fall outside planning control altogether. Tendring council, for example, granted a certificate of lawfulness in 2021 for a mobile home used ancillary to the main house on exactly this basis.¹¹

The line is between ancillary use and a separate home. Rother council puts it plainly: "Independent residential occupation of a caravan/mobile home requires planning permission."⁴ A guest sleeping in the hut when family visit is ancillary; someone living in it as a separate home, independent of the house, is not.

If your hut is fixed down and counts as a building, it is judged as an outbuilding instead. In England that means it must be behind the front of the house, single storey, no taller than 4m with a dual-pitched roof or 3m otherwise, and no taller than 2.5m within 2m of a boundary, with eaves no higher than 2.5m, and with all outbuildings together covering no more than half the garden. Outbuildings can't be self-contained living accommodation.¹²

Protected land: in national parks, National Landscapes (areas of outstanding natural beauty), the Broads and World Heritage Sites, outbuildings more than 20m from the house are limited to 10m², and in the grounds of a listed building any outbuilding needs permission.¹² If you're not sure which side of the line your hut falls, you can apply to the council for a lawful development certificate.¹

Letting a hut to guests

Letting a garden hut to paying guests is generally treated as a new holiday unit, which needs planning permission. The Peak District refused a hut holiday let in a rear garden as "the creation of a new holiday let dwelling".⁵ The RTPI says that, outside the specific exemptions, using land for caravans "needs planning permission".¹

There are exceptions. A hotel in the New Forest won a certificate for a hut used as an en-suite hotel bedroom in its grounds, because guests used the hotel and there was no cooking in the hut, so the use of the land hadn't changed.¹³

The 60-day camping rule doesn't cover huts. Since 2023, land in England can be used as a temporary campsite for up to 60 days a year without planning permission, with notice to the council and on-site toilets, but that right doesn't allow "the siting of any caravan" other than motorhomes.¹⁴ North York Moors confirms it is for "tents, campervans and motorhomes only (not caravans)".¹⁵ A shepherd's hut, being a caravan in law, can't use it. Wales's version, from June 2026, excludes caravans too.¹⁶

Our guide to letting a shepherd's hut covers business rates, fire safety and booking sites.

Caravan site licences

In England, Wales and Scotland, land can't be used as a caravan site without a site licence from the council.¹⁷ But there are exemptions, including a caravan used incidentally within the garden of a house.³ So a hut in your own garden for family use needs no licence, while a hut let to guests normally does. Licences are issued by the council once planning permission is in place.¹

Building regulations

Caravans aren't covered by building regulations; on licensed sites, site licence conditions do that job instead.¹⁸ A hut fixed down as a building may need building regulations approval, especially if people sleep in it, so ask your council's building control.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Wales uses the same caravan definitions⁶ and the same rule that incidental use of a garden isn't development.² All visitor accommodation let for 31 nights or less must be registered with the Welsh Government by 31 March 2027, and the guidance names shepherd's huts.¹⁹
Scotland also treats incidental use of a garden as not development.²⁰ Letting a hut needs a short-term let licence; Stirling Council lists "shepherds' huts" as needing one.²¹
Northern Ireland has separate planning law, so check with your council. It has its own caravan site licensing²², and it is illegal to offer tourist accommodation without a certificate from Tourism NI.²³

This guide explains the national rules. It isn't legal advice, and your council decides each case.

Questions people ask

Do I need planning permission for a shepherd's hut in my garden?

Usually not, if the hut can be moved in one piece and is used by your household for purposes incidental to the house, such as an office or spare room. That use isn't development.²¹ Living in it as a separate home needs permission.⁴

Can I let my shepherd's hut on Airbnb without planning permission?

Generally no. Letting a garden hut to paying guests is usually treated as a new holiday unit needing permission⁵, and the 60-day camping right doesn't cover huts.¹⁴

Is a shepherd's hut a caravan?

Usually, in law, if it is designed for people to stay in and can be moved from one place to another, by towing or on a lorry.⁶¹ One fixed to a concrete base that can't be moved without taking it apart may count as a building.¹⁰

Related guides

A green hut on a raised chassis with wooden steps, beside a picnic table on a grassy field

Letting a shepherd's hutRates, fire safety and booking sites.

A green shepherd's hut with a curved roof and stable door among trees

Buying a hutWhat to check before you order.

A pale blue shepherd's hut with steps and a bench in a leafy garden

Shepherd's hut costsWhat makers charge.

Sources

Royal Town Planning Institute, November 2023, Camping, glamping and caravanning: planning policy and licensing (practice note).
legislation.gov.uk, Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 55.
legislation.gov.uk, Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, Schedule 1.
Rother District Council, Caravans and mobile homes.
Peak District National Park Authority, 2017, Planning officer report: shepherd's hut holiday let, Stoney Middleton.
legislation.gov.uk, Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, section 29.
legislation.gov.uk, Caravan Sites Act 1968, section 13.
Dartmoor National Park Authority, Pop-up campsites guidance note.
Planning Inspectorate, December 2023, Appeal decision APP/Q9495/C/23/3325144 (New Oaks Farm).
Planning Inspectorate, January 2025, Appeal decision APP/P1940/X/24/3336810.
Tendring District Council, September 2021, Certificate of lawfulness decision 21/01301/LUPROP.
Planning Portal, Outbuildings: planning permission.
Planning Inspectorate, June 2020, Appeal decision APP/B9506/X/19/3227611 (Burley Manor Hotel).
legislation.gov.uk, The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc.) (England) (Amendment) Order 2023, article 3.
North York Moors National Park Authority, 60-day temporary campsite guidance.
legislation.gov.uk, The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2026.
legislation.gov.uk, Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, section 1.
Mid Suffolk District Council, Caravan site guide.
Welsh Government, Registering visitor accommodation: overview.
legislation.gov.uk, Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, section 26.
Stirling Council, How short-term let licensing works.
legislation.gov.uk, Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963, section 1.
Tourism NI, What do you need to consider?.