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Q&As
What are the rules if I’m building on a garden site on the edge of a conservation area?
What is the latest in the Government proposed legislation about building a two storey self contained residential house in the back garden along the edge of our conservation area? The main house is four stories and the proposed development would occupy a little less than a half of the back garden. The surrounding brick wall of the garden is from 1867.
One Answer
Hi Jay,
The government is very keen to deliver new housing and there are lots of headlines in the media about planning controls being relaxed. However, there have not been any major changes when it comes to the ability of individual homeowners to build a separate house in their back garden.
The main change is the reintroduction of housing targets – if your local planning authority cannot show a 5 year supply of housing or they have failed the government’s Housing Delivery Test it is harder (but not impossible) for them to turn down applications for new homes.
For the most part, your chances of getting permission for a house on your land are probably pretty much the same as they were under the previous government and though more planning reform is likely, it may not help very much with individual small sites like yours.
The key factor that determines whether you can build is whether you meet relevant planning policies. It is more difficult to get permission for new homes outside of settlement boundaries, in flood zones or in the Green Belt, for example.
If you are in, or close to, a conservation area, the council will expect a very high quality of architectural design in your new home. The planners will also want to see that there is no harm to neighbours or to protected species and protected trees and that you have enough parking.
These considerations are fairly standard for applications for new homes and aren’t really affected by top-level government reforms (that often mostly benefit large house building companies).
To work through these standard planning issues, you would be best to get some advice from a knowledgeable local planning consultant or architect, and consider making an approach to the council for some pre-application advice.
Martin Gaine
Build It’s planning expert