Some of you may be aware that, because of changes to the water course and local flooding,  there was due to be a change in legislation regarding paving and driveways. It is mainly directed and commercial but I asked the question to a paving company and got this response:

As part of a set of measures, we plan to introduced  secondary legislation in England on 1 October to make the laying of impermeable surfaces in domestic front gardens subject to planning consent. Permeable surfacing will remain permitted development.

This does not mean, however, that householders will only be required to use permeable materials. Rather, the measure is intended to ensure that, where a front garden is paved over, it is done in such a way as to ensure that it does not add to the problems associated with surface water run-off, namely overloaded drains and the risk of flooding. The Government wants to ensure that the paving of front gardens does not create an area that is impermeable. This can be done in a number of ways. At the most basic level it can be achieved by ensuring that "traditional" paving is laid so that water can soak away naturally, for example, by allowing it to run off to a garden border. More sophisticated approaches will use, for example, soakaways to achieve the same ends. We are currently working on guidance which we will publish as soon as possible.

In tandem with introducing the legislation we will be publishing an updated impact assessment showing the costs, benefits and likely impacts of the measures.

Planning System Improvement Division, Communities and Local Government