How to create a great driveway
The driveway is the first thing you set eyes on as you approach a house — but all too often, it’s one of the most overlooked areas of self-build and renovation projects. As well as playing an important role in boosting your home’s kerb appeal, the driveway serves an important practical purpose.
The rules & regs
One of the key stipulations you’ll need to adhere to when constructing or re-vamping your driveway is concerned with surface water runoff. “Over recent years of climate change we have seen increased flooding. Government legislation introduced in 2008 aims to minimise any additional load on the existing sewerage drainage systems already in place,” says Mick Haley of The Gentleman Architect. The key regulations you need to abide by are laid out in SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Systems 2008).
Essentially, in 2008 Permitted Development rights were updated to state that if any hard surface to be covered is more than 5m between the front of your house and the highway, then the laying of non-porous surfacing requires planning require SuDS approval, too.
