Decking and Planning in Wallsend

The national limits

For homes outside the special areas, the starting point is one short passage from England’s official planning website. Here it is word for word:

Putting up decking, or other raised platforms, in your garden is permitted development, not needing an application for planning permission, providing: The decking is no more than 30cm above the ground. Together with other extensions, outbuildings etc, the decking or platforms cover no more than 50 per cent of the garden area. None of the decking or platform is on land forward of a wall forming the principal elevation.

Source: Planning Portal: Decking, Planning Permission, viewed 5 November 2026.

What that means on an ordinary plot

Height is measured from the ground, which is why slopes catch people out: the lowest edge can pass while the highest fails. See sloping gardens for how to take the reading.

The half-the-garden test bites hardest on small plots. A shed, a coal house or a rear kitchen all go into the sum with the new deck, and there is rarely much to spare. The yard share helper gives you a quick answer.

In most cases the principal elevation means the side facing the road, which puts a front garden deck outside these allowances. Corner plots can be less obvious. If your house sits side-on to the road, ask before assuming.

The Green conservation area

North Tyneside Council lists one conservation area in Wallsend: The Green. Its boundary follows the old village green and the pattern of building around it, according to the county’s historic environment record. In planning law a conservation area counts as Article 2(3) land, and the Portal sets a tighter rule for that land:

On Article 2(3) designated land* no decking or platform is permitted either side of the house.

Source: Planning Portal: Decking, Planning Permission, viewed 5 November 2026.

So a deck beside the house is out of the allowances there, and other works may also be looked at more closely. The boundary is shown on the council’s own map, so look your address up there and not on any list you find elsewhere. If you live on or near The Green, ask the council before you commit.

Sources: North Tyneside Council: conservation areas; Sitelines: The Green conservation area record; legislation.gov.uk: GPDO 2015, Schedule 1. Viewed 5 November 2026.

Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site

Wallsend takes its name from the end of Hadrian’s Wall, and the World Heritage Site runs through the south of the town. Planning law treats World Heritage Sites as Article 2(3) land too, so the rule above applies, and the Portal adds a size limit of its own:

In National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and World Heritage Sites the maximum area to be covered more than 20 metres from the house is limited to 10 square metres.

Source: Planning Portal: Decking, Planning Permission, viewed 5 November 2026.

We cannot tell you whether a particular home is affected, and neither can a street list on a website. Please check your address with North Tyneside Council. Most of the town lies outside the site, but anyone in the south of Wallsend should ask, and it takes little time compared with altering a finished deck.

Sources: planning.data.gov.uk: Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Hadrian’s Wall); legislation.gov.uk: GPDO 2015, Schedule 1. Viewed 5 November 2026.

Flats, maisonettes and listed homes

The Portal says its allowances “apply to houses and not to” flats and maisonettes, Planning Portal: Decking, Planning Permission. With so many flats in Wallsend ward, this one comes up often: a ground-floor flat with its own garden still needs to ask. Converted houses are in the same position, and a lease may have rules of its own.

For a listed building, the Portal’s wording is direct: “Within the curtilage of a listed building, no decking or platform is permitted”, Planning Portal: Decking, Planning Permission. Treat that as a reason to speak to the council before any drawing is done.

You might also see Article 4 directions mentioned. The one the council names in Wallsend affects a grass verge at Addington Drive and has nothing to do with gardens. The others on its list are elsewhere in the borough, and North Tyneside Council: Article 4 directions has the details.

Building Regulations

Planning and Building Regulations are separate things. The Portal says “Building Regulations should be assumed to apply to every deck structure requiring planning permission”, Planning Portal: Decking, Building Regulations. So a tall deck may need both, and your local building control body can tell you what applies.

How to check your own address

• Measure the height, the deck area and any buildings already on the plot.
• Look up your address on the council’s conservation area map.
• Ask whether your home is in or close to the World Heritage Site.
• Check whether the house is listed, or a flat or maisonette.
• Still unsure? Ask the council before work starts.

The council’s contact routes are on the North Tyneside Council planning pages. This page is a plain guide and not legal advice; the council’s view on your home is the one that counts. Anything you find is worth mentioning on the quote form.