Retractable side awning buying guide
Updated: 22.10.2026
You have a neighbour's window beside the patio, or a breeze across the table, and a 3 metre cassette looks like the obvious buy because it sits in the cheap band on amazon.co.uk. A retractable side awning is a fabric screen you pull out sideways, or drop between poles, to block that view, a low sun, or a light wind. It is not a roof. The listings behind this page are in the [side awning comparison](/hub/sun-shades/side-awning). By the end you should know whether 140 cm hides you when you sit, whether 3 metres is your gap, and whether you may drill. There is no lab test.
You have a neighbour's window beside the patio, or a breeze across the table, and a 3 metre cassette looks like the obvious buy because it sits in the cheap band on amazon.co.uk.
You have a neighbour's window beside the patio, or a breeze across the table, and a 3 metre cassette looks like the obvious buy because it sits in the cheap band on amazon.co.uk. A retractable side awning is a fabric screen you pull out sideways, or drop between poles, to block that view, a low sun, or a light wind. It is not a roof. The listings behind this page are in the side awning comparison. By the end you should know whether 140 cm hides you when you sit, whether 3 metres is your gap, and whether you may drill. There is no lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | 140 cm seated screen | No-drill claim | Size fields agree | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  VOUNOT VOUNOT brown side awning, 140 × 300 cm | Yes | No | Yes | 9.0 | about £59.99 | View offer |
| Preis-Tipp |  VOUNOT VOUNOT grey side awning, 140 × 300 cm | Yes | No | No | 9.0 | about £56.30 | View offer |
| Alternative |  VOUNOT VOUNOT vertical awning, 200 × 310 cm | No | Yes | – | 8.6 | about £54.92 | View offer |
On this page
What a side awning is, and what the word hides
A side awning here is a vertical screen at the edge of the space. The garden version is a steel cassette you pull out by hand to a second post. The balcony version wedges between the floor and a soffit. Neither covers the sky. The three cassettes kept in the comparison are titled 140 cm high and 300 cm long, from about £56.30 to about £59.99. They share one amazon.co.uk line of 4.5 from 4,655 reviews, and the UK review text matches, so those stars are one parent sample. The other product is a 200 cm vertical blind, poles from 220 cm to 310 cm, about £54.92, rated 4.3 from 165. Its first 50 written reviews are not labelled United Kingdom.
Shop results also throw in sails, door canopies, and caravan walls. If the cloth is overhead, it is not this screen.
Height and width before the price
140 cm lines up with a seated sightline. It does not hide you standing at the barbecue. Taller cassettes exist outside this four-listing set. In one search snapshot, 160–180 cm VOUNOT screens sat around £64.99 to £69.99, and a CASARIA 180 × 300 cm was £82.99. Those are snapshot prices, not a price index.
Width is the pull-out. These cassettes are sold as 3 metres. One UK reviewer covered a longer run with two units. A 4 metre gap leaves a hole. Grey is the awkward file: the title says 300 cm and the technical projection says 2.1 m. Do not average them. Brown is the file where title, bullets, and projection all say 300 cm by 140 cm. Beige's projection says 3 m, while minimum clearance is written as 55 inches.
Fixing, weather words, and the England height check
Reviewers on the shared UK text say the supplied screws are too weak. One person needed a 12 mm drill for expanding floor bolts. Another finished an easy wall in under 20 minutes with four screws. Masonry or a structural post is what they are describing. Deck boards alone are not a foundation, and a leaning fence is not a post. Beige says assembly is not required, while the same reviews describe screws. The vertical blind is the listing that claims a no-drill fit, and only where a soffit exists. Bolts and the rewind are on how to fit a side awning.
The bullets say the cloth can be protected from wind, sun, water, and ultraviolet light. That is not a BS EN 13561 class. vounot.co.uk tells you to fold this screen away in moderate or strong wind. Only the vertical listing states 180 g/m² polyester and light rain.
What to check before you buy
Measure the seated sightline, then the gap, then the material you will bolt into. If people stand where you want privacy, 140 cm is the wrong height. If you cannot drill, the pressure-fit blind is the only mechanism here, and only with a soffit between 220 cm and 310 cm. If noon sun is the problem, a side screen leaves the table in the open. A later search showed the blind at £62.99, so check the live page. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
Is 140 cm high enough for a garden privacy screen?
It is high enough when you are sitting or lying. VOUNOT's family description on amazon.co.uk attaches that use to 140, 160, and 180 cm, so a taller cassette in the same family is still a seated screen. Your head clears a 140 cm hem when you stand. If a neighbour looks at the table while you are in a chair, 140 cm can do that job.
How long a gap can one screen cover?
One cassette covers up to the pull-out you trust. The brown title and projection both put that at 300 cm. A UK reviewer who needed more length used two cassettes. If your gap is shorter than 3 metres, the unused cloth stays in the housing. Grey's technical field of 2.1 m means you should not assume 300 cm until the live page agrees with itself.
Cassette or a no-drill balcony blind?
Choose the cassette when you can bolt a post into masonry or a real frame and you want about 3 metres at 140 cm. Choose the vertical blind when you must not drill and you have a floor and a soffit inside 220–310 cm. The blind is 200 cm wide, and the written reviews on its raw file were not labelled United Kingdom. An open patio with no ceiling cannot pressure-fit that blind.
Will a retractable side awning stop the wind?
It can take the edge off a breeze when the post is fixed firmly, and it can end up on the ground when the brackets are poor. Retract it when it is gusting, when you leave, and when the cloth is wet if you can dry it later.
Do you need planning permission in an English back garden?
Not automatically, and not never. A 140 cm screen used like a fence is over the 1 metre limit beside a highway used by vehicles, and under the 2 metre limit elsewhere, on the Planning Portal's reading. Flats do not get householder permitted development. If the screen is fixed to the house, it is an alteration rather than a freestanding outbuilding. When the address is a listed building or a roadside boundary, ask the council before you drill.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Updated 22.10.2026.
- Planning Portal: awning and gazebo FAQ (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Planning Portal: fences, gates and garden walls (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2, Class A (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- GOV.UK: permitted development rights for householders (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- BSI: BS EN 13561:2015 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Regulation (EU) 2019/1188, wind-class pressures (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- GOV.UK: General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- amazon.co.uk search: Retractable Side Awning (retrieved 22.10.2026)