- Planning authority
- Wigan Council
- Postcodes
- M46
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 36°
- Noon sun, 21 December
- About 13°
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Greater Manchester
The kinds of plot we look at in Atherton
Land that’s hard to reach isn’t automatically a lost cause. In Atherton, as anywhere, a plot behind houses with narrow, shared or no access can sometimes be opened up by combining it with a neighbour’s garden, using an existing shared drive, or buying the strip of land that controls the way in. Ransom strips and rights of way need careful legal checks, and the council will look hard at a tandem layout where one house sits directly behind another. We’ll tell you honestly whether the access problem can be solved.
Planning and light in Atherton
Daylight is one of the first things Wigan Council will look at on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Atherton sits about 36° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line around 5 metres high throws a shadow of roughly 6.8 m. On 21 December the midday sun is only about 13° 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.
What we can do in Atherton
Sell or partner
- Sell part of your garden
- Sell subject to planning
- Garden plot option agreement
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
Design and build
- Build a new home in your garden
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Plot feasibility and design
By plot type
- Large rear gardens
- Corner and side plots
- Garage courts and yards
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Bungalows on large plots
What happens next
When you’re ready, tell us about your land in Atherton. A few photos help but aren’t essential. We’ll come back with a straight view of whether the plot could take a new home and which routes might suit you, from a sale to design and build. If it’s not a good fit, we’ll say so, and there’s nothing to pay either way.
Questions about garden plots in Atherton
Who decides planning for a new home in a garden in Atherton?
The decision is made by Wigan Council, 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 do you stop a new home in Atherton overshadowing the neighbours?
By testing the layout against the sun and the council’s guidance. At midday on 21 March the sun in Atherton is about 36° up, so a 5 m eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.8 m; in December it is far lower. Spacing, roof height, orientation and single-storey designs all help keep light where it belongs.
How long does a garden plot deal in Atherton 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.
Can you build a house in my back garden in Atherton 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.