Backland development in Lewisham

Selling part of your garden and building on it yourself are very different things, and owners in Lewisham can do either with us. Selling means you receive money for the plot and the new home belongs to someone else. Building means you keep the land, take on the cost and end up with a new home of your own.

Between those two sit options, planning promotion and joint ventures, where you share more of the outcome without managing the build yourself. A London borough like Lewisham can have very different plots from one street to the next, so the free garden plot appraisal is where we start. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Planning authority
London Borough of Lewisham
Postcodes
SE4, SE6, SE12, SE13, SE14
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Noon sun, 21 December
About 15°
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Greater London

The kinds of plot we look at in Lewisham

Sometimes the plot that works isn’t a single garden at all. Two or three adjoining back gardens in Lewisham can often be combined into one scheme with one shared access, giving a better layout than any of them alone. Each owner keeps their house, and a collaboration agreement with an equalisation clause shares the value fairly. If your own garden is too narrow or too short to work on its own, it’s worth asking whether the neighbours might be interested too.

Planning and light in Lewisham

Daylight is one of the first things the London Borough of Lewisham will look at on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Lewisham sits about 39° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line around 5 metres high throws a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. On 21 December the midday sun is only about 15° up and shadows are far longer. That’s why the gap between the existing house and the new one, and the height of the new roof, matter so much. We test layouts against the council’s Local Plan and any daylight guidance it publishes before anything is submitted.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Lewisham: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.5 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Lewisham: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° at midwinter. It shows why the gap between your house and a new home behind it is about light as well as privacy. Garden assumed to face north.

What we can do in Lewisham

Sell or partner

Design and build

By plot type

What happens next

The next step is simple. Use the form or call us with your Lewisham address and, if you can, a rough idea of the garden’s length, width and how a vehicle might reach it. We’ll do a desktop check, talk it through with you and arrange a site visit if the plot looks viable. There’s no cost and no obligation.

Questions about garden plots in Lewisham

Who decides planning for a new home in a garden in Lewisham?

The decision is made by the London Borough of Lewisham, using the council’s Local Plan, the NPPF and its own design guidance. Small schemes are usually decided by planning officers, and national and council rules set out when one can go to a planning committee instead. We prepare and submit the application and answer the council’s questions, but we can’t promise the outcome.

How long does a garden plot deal in Lewisham usually take?

It depends on the route. A sale of a plot that already has planning moves at the pace of the solicitors and your lender. Routes that need planning usually take many months, because of surveys, design, the council’s decision period and any amendments. Design and build usually takes well over a year in total.

How much is my garden plot in Lewisham worth?

There’s no honest figure without looking at the plot. Value depends on location, size, access, title and planning, and costs such as a long drive or difficult ground come straight off what the land is worth. Our free appraisal looks at all of that before we talk about price.

Can you build a house in my back garden in Lewisham that I keep?

Yes. Our design and build route covers the survey, design, planning application, Building Regulations, construction and handover, while the land and the new home stay yours. You can sell it, let it or use it for family. You’ll get a written quote once the design and survey are done, and any earlier price range is a guide only.

Nearby

Find out what your garden could become

Free garden plot appraisal. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer if it won’t work.