Electric Gate Queries

[richo106]

Hi All

 

I am in the early stages of doing my driveway and we are looking at options of if we want to install electric gates etc.. I have put ducting around the drive and house so cabling is not an issue 

 

One thing I am struggling to get a definite answer on is distance from the road the gate has to be, this will determine if this is suitable for mine driveway and then when the visability splays

 

Will I be able to do this under permitted development and will it need planning. I have made initial contact with my council but as always its very slow progress at the minute

 

Has anyone installed gates (over 1m) and what regs/guidelines did they follow? I even had an electric gate company out and they didn't know (which didnt fill me with confidence!)

 

Any information/advice appreciated on this topic

 

Many Thanks

 

 

[JohnMo]

57 minutes ago, richo106 said:

Will I be able to do this under permitted development and will it need planning

If you are doing a new build and it's not signed off, permitted development doesn't exist. You're legal obligation is to follow the agreed plans or do a variation.

 

If you have a need for visibility splays, your into planning and highways approval. There is highways documentation that has full details of visibility delays (they change with speed limit and gate placements and how much of the driveway has to comply with highways road spec - that part only certified people can install the tar and sub surface.

[richo106]

I am not doing a new build, i had some major renovations and extensions couple of years ago and now finally getting round to doing some externals

 

Cheers

[Mr Punter]

The distance back from the kerb depends on the road type.  The gates take a while to open, so you don't want to obstruct traffic.  If the gates are over 1m high you will need planning consent.

[Andeh]

I think (!) distance to road is governed by not blocking traffic whilst waiting for it to open. Ours is about 5m from memory. 

[Big Jimbo]

I have done mine at 6 meters back.

[Big Jimbo]

I think i did a bit of hunting around, and found 6 meters somewhere. Doubtful you will own a car longer than that. The council did pop round about the height of the gate. I told them it was 6 meters from the highway, and to f.off. They did. I wouldn't bother with PP. loads of case law out there about how far back from a highway, is far enough.

[SBMS]

On 16/02/2026 at 12:45, JohnMo said:

If you are doing a new build and it's not signed off, permitted development doesn't exist.

Not quite true… PD rights exist when house is substantially complete. It doesn’t need to be signed off. 
 

I think if your gates are above 1m in height (when next to a road) you need planning otherwise they are PD. 

[ProDave]

On 18/02/2026 at 12:40, Big Jimbo said:

I think i did a bit of hunting around, and found 6 meters somewhere. Doubtful you will own a car longer than that.

But a motorhome could well be, and  car towing any form of trailer.

 

You don't want to be stuck with the a**e end of your vehicle stuck out on the road while waiting for your gates to open.

[Roundtuit]

I forget the detail, but someone locally installed 6ft electric gates within about 2m of the highway.  They were caught out and had to apply for retrospective permission. They successfully argued that the gates could be operated by remote control on the approach so that no road obstruction would occur.  Utter bull$hit, but they got it passed...

Edited Thursday at 22:53 by Roundtuit
typo

[JohnMo]

10 hours ago, SBMS said:

Not quite true… PD rights exist when house is substantially complete. It doesn’t need to be signed off.

So where does it say that in black and white? 

[torre]

37 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

PD rights exist when house is substantially complete. It doesn’t need to be signed off.

 

Signed off by whom? You will certainly need to have satisfied all planning conditions, or it's not a lawful development in the first place. Relevant Planning geek article (we needed a NMA to install our solar during construction as it wasn't shown on the plans, even though clearly PD after)

[JohnMo]

1 minute ago, torre said:

Signed off by whom?

Building control, via a completion certificate.

 

While building and site is under planning permission and the agreed scope of works, permitted development isn't lawful. Substantially complete as mentioned @SBMS, no idea where that comes from. Extending that, you add an extension to a new house before it's complete, sure that's not allowed!

[Big Jimbo]

My understanding is that PD rights do not come into play untill a completion cert has been issued.

[Oz07]

I had a automated gate about 1.5m high and put it inline with the boundary about 300mm back. I pressed the button as approaching or just pulled up at side of rd. It was a decent width rd though. I was using an existing access which already had gates on it though. Never heard anything from council.

 

Makes me wonder whether "installing" some scrap gates across an existing access before applying for permission is a good "hack" bet you can find scrap gates on marketplace

Edited 18 hours ago by Oz07

[Oz07]

If OP installs his gates above 1m and council dont notice how long before they become legit. 

[SBMS]

12 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Building control, via a completion certificate.

 

While building and site is under planning permission and the agreed scope of works, permitted development isn't lawful. Substantially complete as mentioned @SBMS, no idea where that comes from. Extending that, you add an extension to a new house before it's complete, sure that's not allowed!

It’s the definition of ‘complete’ - As my planning consultant explained In law permitted development rights are granted when the building is ‘Completed and capable of occupation as a dwelling house’ meaning that the building has reached a stage of physical construction where, as a matter of fact and degree, it is ready and capable of being beneficially used as a home for its intended purpose. Relevant case law here is well trodden and is actually the reason why councils often rate a building for council tax as capable of habitation prior to a completion certificate being issued. 

The single line my consultant explained was whether it was ‘capable of occupation’. Building regs or completion certificate is irrelevant, it’s the state of the building on the ground that matters. 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by SBMS