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Landscaping in Havering

Space to build
something substantial.

Havering has the room that inner London does not. Gardens here are big enough for driveways, outbuildings, terracing and planting to coexist rather than compete.

Building in Havering

What we work with here

01

Inter-war and post-war semis on deep plots

Hornchurch, Upminster, Gidea Park and Emerson Park are largely inter-war and post-war suburbia built at low density, with semi-detached and detached houses on plots that are deep by any London standard — rear gardens well over a hundred square metres are ordinary, and Emerson Park in particular has substantial detached houses on large grounds. Romford is denser around the centre, Rainham and South Hornchurch more mixed. Nearly everything here has side access and a frontage that can take a car, which means the full range of work is practical rather than theoretical.

02

Clay, marsh ground and drainage designed for the area

The borough sits on London Clay across most of its area, with alluvial ground towards the Thames at Rainham and the marshes. Clay drains slowly, so a large paved area needs a drainage strategy rather than a hopeful fall: water taken away from the house, a channel drain at the threshold, and a soakaway sized for the surface it actually serves and sited far enough from foundations. The advantage of a Havering plot is that there is genuinely room to do this within your own boundary, which is what makes large permeable driveways straightforward here.

03

Driveways, outbuildings and permitted development

Two rules cover most of what people want to do here. Front driveways need no planning permission where the surface is permeable or the runoff goes to a soakaway or border inside your boundary; over five square metres of sealed surface draining to the road does need it. Garden buildings are generally permitted development if single storey, not forward of the principal elevation, within the height limits — which are lower within two metres of a boundary — and not covering more than half the land around the original house. Both tests are comfortable on plots this size, but we check the specific property rather than assume.

Our services in Havering

What we build in Havering

Garden Design

Bespoke garden planning, planting schemes, and 3D visuals.

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Porcelain Paving

Modern, stain-resistant paving solutions for contemporary gardens.

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Natural Stone Driveways

Elegant Yorkstone, Limestone, and Sandstone installations.

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Decking & Seating

Custom composite or hardwood decking with built-in features.

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Retaining Walls & Fencing

Structural walls and privacy fencing for defined garden spaces.

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Jet Washing & Rejuvenation

Restore old patios and driveways to look brand new.

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Questions we get asked

Havering, specifically

How big can a driveway be before it needs planning permission?
Size is not really the test — drainage is. A front driveway of any size can generally be laid without permission if the surface is permeable, or if runoff from a sealed surface is directed to a soakaway or planted border within your own boundary. Permission is needed once you exceed five square metres of impermeable surface draining onto the road. Havering frontages are deep enough that the permeable route is almost always the practical one.
Can you build a patio, driveway and garden room as one project?
Yes, and on a plot this size it is usually the sensible way to do it. Doing the groundwork once means drainage runs, levels and services are coordinated rather than retrofitted, and the finished spaces relate to each other. We sequence it so that excavation and drainage come first, structures and hard surfaces next, and planting last. The programme is set out in the written quote before anything starts.
How far from the house should a soakaway be?
Far enough not to affect the foundations — as a general rule at least five metres from any building, and clear of drains, boundaries and tree roots. It also has to be sized for the area of paving draining into it and dug into ground that will actually accept water, which on London Clay needs checking rather than assuming. On the larger plots here there is normally room to site one properly, which is not true everywhere in London.
Coverage

Areas we cover in Havering

  • Romford
  • Hornchurch
  • Upminster
  • Emerson Park
  • Rainham
  • Gidea Park

Postcode districts: RM1 · RM2 · RM3 · RM11 · RM12 · RM13 · RM14

All 32 London boroughs

Get a free quote in Havering.

Tell us about the site and we will arrange a survey. Written, no-obligation quotes for anywhere in Havering.

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