Planning permission, before you order.

In England, garden buildings often fall under permitted development when they're incidental to the house — a studio, office or hobby space rather than somewhere to live or sleep. The well-established limits: within 2 m of a boundary the overall height is generally capped at 2.5 m, further in a dual-pitched roof can generally rise to 4 m, and outbuildings can't cover more than half the garden.

The A-Frame's ridge is 2.8 m — over the 2.5 m boundary cap, comfortably under 4 m. In practice that means siting it more than 2 m from your boundary is what keeps a garden A-Frame inside the usual limits.

The catch to know about: sleeping accommodation is usually NOT covered by permitted development. A guest room, an annexe or a lettable unit in the garden generally needs consent, however small the building. If overnight use is the plan, talk to your local planning authority first, not after.

Established sites often have a site licence or planning consent that already covers additional units — adding a pod can be a licensing conversation rather than a fresh application. New sites are a full planning matter, and access, drainage and highway questions usually carry more weight than the buildings themselves.

If you're unsure what your existing consent covers, a certificate of lawful development from your local authority settles it in writing before you spend money.

Diversifying into holiday accommodation generally needs planning consent, and most authorities have a policy that supports it — rural tourism is something councils are usually trying to encourage, not block. Pre-application advice from your local authority is cheap, quick, and tells you the shape of a likely approval before you commit to anything.