Part 2 Class B: forming a new access without permission

Class B of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015 permits the formation of a new means of access to a highway, but only where two things are true at once. The highway must not be a trunk road or a classified road, and the access must be required in connection with development permitted by another Class in Schedule 2. Miss either limb and the permitted development right is not available, which is why a new access permitted development claim fails more often than it succeeds.

The second limb is the one people overlook. Class B is not a free-standing right to form a driveway because you want one. It is a supporting right that lets you build the access needed to use something else you are already entitled to build.

What Class B permits, and its two exclusions

Read as a whole, the Class allows the formation, laying out and construction of a means of access to a highway which is not a trunk road or a classified road, where that access is required in connection with development permitted by any Class in Schedule 2 other than Class A of Part 2.

Class A of Part 2 is gates, fences, walls and other means of enclosure, which is specifically carved out. So you cannot rely on Class B to form an access merely because you are entitled to put up a gate.

The exclusion that catches most householders is the classified road one. Classified roads include more than A and B roads. C roads are classified too, and a C road looks exactly like an unclassified road from the pavement: no particular signage, no number on the street name plate, nothing on a satellite navigation display. The only reliable way to find out is to ask the local highway authority, in writing, for the classification of the road at the point of the proposed access. Do that before the drawings are drawn.

The works in the highway are a separate consent

Even where Class B applies, or where no planning permission is needed at all, the physical works across the footway or verge require a licence from the highway authority under section 184 of the Highways Act 1980.

That is a different consent from a different body, with its own application, its own fee and its own technical requirements. The authority will specify the construction build-up, the kerb type, the width of the crossing, the treatment of any statutory undertaker apparatus and whether the authority or an approved contractor carries out the work. It can refuse, and it commonly does where visibility is inadequate, where the access would sit on a bend or close to a junction, or where it would remove a length of controlled parking or a street tree.

The two consents answer different questions. The planning question is whether the formation of the access is acceptable in land use and amenity terms. The highways question is whether the crossing can be built and used safely. Satisfying one tells you nothing about the other.

Visibility, gradient and what the highway authority will ask for

Highway authorities assess a new access on sight lines, gradient and the geometry of the crossing.

Visibility is expressed as an x-distance back from the carriageway edge and a y-distance along it in each direction, with the y-distance derived from the stopping sight distance for the road's speed. Manual for Streets uses an x-distance of 2.4 m for most residential situations, with stopping sight distances of 25 m at 20 mph and 43 m at 30 mph. The splay has to be kept clear of obstructions above a low height, which in practice means a 1.8 m fence or a hedge inside the splay defeats it, and the land within the splay normally has to be within your control.

Gradient matters because a vehicle has to stand level while the driver checks the road. Most authority guides require a shallow gradient over the first few metres inside the boundary, often around 1 in 10 or shallower, with a level standing area at the back of the footway. On a sloping front garden that requirement alone can rule out an access.

Then the detail: a minimum crossing width, usually around 2.4 m to 3 m for a single domestic access, a turning area where reversing onto the highway would be unacceptable, and surface water control so run-off does not discharge onto the footway. That last point ties into the hard surfacing rules, which we cover in front garden paving, permeable surfaces and Class F.

Gates, set-backs and obstruction

Gates at a new access are governed by Part 2 Class A, which permits means of enclosure up to 1 m high where adjacent to a highway used by vehicular traffic and up to 2 m elsewhere, with designated land and listed building restrictions on top.

The obstruction point is separate from planning. A gate that opens outwards over a footway or carriageway is an obstruction of the highway, and the highway authority has powers to require its alteration. Authorities therefore want gates either hung to open inwards or set back from the carriageway edge by enough for a vehicle to stand clear while they are opened, commonly between 4.5 m and 6 m. On a short front garden that set-back is often unachievable, and the practical answer is inward-opening or sliding gates.

Where an access serves more than one dwelling, or where the use intensifies, the highway authority will treat it as a new junction rather than a domestic crossing and apply tighter geometry.

An illustrative example

This example is illustrative. A householder wants to form a vehicular access and hardstanding to the front of a 1950s semi, and intends to rely on permitted development. The road carries no bus route and has no signage, so the owner assumes it is unclassified. The highway authority confirms in writing that it is a C road, which is classified. Class B is therefore unavailable, and because the access is not required in connection with any other permitted development, there is no other route. The owner applies for householder planning permission, submits a plan showing a 2.4 m by 43 m visibility splay within the frontage, a 1 in 12 gradient over the first 5 m and a permeable surface, and obtains permission and then a section 184 licence. Two consents, in that order.

Trunk roads and National Highways

Where the proposed access is to a trunk road, Class B does not apply and the application is dealt with by the local planning authority with National Highways as a consultee for development affecting the strategic road network.

The approach National Highways takes is set out in the current government circular on the strategic road network, and the starting point for a new private access onto a trunk road is resistance. Expect to be asked whether access can be taken from the local road network instead, and expect a refusal where it cannot be demonstrated that the access is safe at the road's operating speed. A direct domestic access onto a trunk road is very rarely acceptable.

Where a full application is needed instead

If either limb of Class B fails, the route is a planning application, and for a domestic access that is a householder application.

Submit a site location plan, a block plan showing the access, the visibility splays drawn and dimensioned, a section showing the gradient over the first few metres, the proposed surfacing and the drainage arrangement. Where the access serves anything beyond a single dwelling, a short Transport Statement is usually expected, and the policy case belongs in a Planning Statement rather than a covering letter. The full list of report types shows what else a site with constraints may need.

Confirm the road classification in writing before anything else. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your site is likely to need.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority and highway authority or a qualified professional before relying on it, and remember that a lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works fall within permitted development. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.