How big should a patio be in a Hartlepool garden?

Start with how you will use it

Before thinking about square metres, list what the patio needs to hold:

• A dining table and chairs, for eating outside
• A lounge set or corner sofa, for sitting in the evening
• A barbecue or outdoor kitchen, kept away from the house and fences
• Bins, a shed path or a washing line, which often need a hard route rather than a seating area
• Pots and planters, which take more room than people expect

The simplest way to size a patio is to put the furniture you own, or garden chairs and a table of the right size, on the lawn. Pull the chairs out as if someone is sitting on them, walk around them, and mark the edge with canes or string. Then add a little more: patios almost always feel smaller once built and furnished. We do the same at the measuring visit.

Think about the whole garden

A patio that is too big can leave a garden feeling like a car park; one that is too small never gets used. A few points help get the balance right:

• Lawn and planting. Keep enough soft ground for play, wildlife and drainage. On Hartlepool's clay, rain from a large patio needs somewhere to go.
• Sun. Watch where the sun falls through the day. A south- or west-facing patio by the house is ideal; in a north-facing garden, a second patio at the far end may get far more sun.
• Views and privacy. Overlooked gardens on newer estates can benefit from a seating area tucked against a fence or screen.
• Shelter. In exposed gardens, size the patio to fit the sheltered area rather than the whole width of the house. Our guide to windy and exposed gardens explains how.

Layouts for Hartlepool homes

Hartlepool's housing differs a great deal from ward to ward, according to the 2021 Census, and the type of house usually sets the shape of the garden.

Terraced houses and yards

In the Headland and Harbour ward, 38.8% of homes are terraced and 27.3% are flats. In the Manor House ward, which covers most of Rift House and Owton Manor, 51.5% of homes are terraced. Many have modest rear yards or narrow gardens.

• In small walled yards, paving the whole area, with built-in planters, usually works best.
• A light-coloured, large-format slab can make a small yard feel bigger, with fewer joints.
• Plan the route for bins to the back gate before anything else.
• Keep the surface below the damp-proof course: Approved Document C guidance is that it should sit at least 150mm below.

Semi-detached houses

In the Fens and Greatham ward, 65.6% of homes are semi-detached, and semis are also the largest group in the Seaton ward. Gardens are usually wider and longer than terraced plots.

• A patio across the back of the house, as deep as the dining set plus room to walk, is the classic layout.
• Where there is a side passage, an L-shaped patio that wraps around towards the side can catch evening sun.
• A path from the patio to a shed or a second seating spot ties the garden together; see our garden paths and steps page.

Detached houses and large gardens

The Rural West ward, which covers Elwick and the Park area, is the most detached part of the borough, with 77.6% of homes detached. Gardens here are often large, and in Elwick some slope.

• Two or three linked areas, such as a dining terrace by the house, a lounge area and a fire-pit spot, usually work better than one large expanse.
• Large terraces benefit from a mix of materials or a border course to break up the area.
• On sloping plots, split levels joined by steps keep each area level without building up too high.

Shapes and proportions

• Rectangles are the most efficient, with the least cutting and waste, and suit most houses.
• Curves and circles soften a garden but need more cutting, particularly with large-format porcelain.
• Slab size should suit the space: large formats suit open areas; smaller or mixed sizes can look better in tight or irregular yards.
• Lining up the patio edges with features of the house, such as the width of patio doors or an extension, makes the design look planned.

Practical limits

Levels

The patio should be laid with a gentle fall away from the house and at least 150mm below the damp-proof course. On a sloping garden, a large level patio may need a retaining wall at the far edge.

Raised areas

The Planning Portal explains that a platform more than 30cm above the ground needs planning permission. So does one that, with other extensions and outbuildings, would cover more than half the garden.

Ground-level patios

For a ground-level patio in a back garden, the Planning Portal sets no size limit. In front gardens, more than five square metres of impermeable paving needs permission, and conservation areas can add controls; see our guide to patio planning in Hartlepool.

Drainage

The bigger the patio, the more water it sheds. On clay, a large patio usually needs a channel drain or a permeable design. Our guide to permeable patios covers the options.

Questions people ask