Backland development in Keynsham

Before you pay for an architect or a planning application in Keynsham, find out whether your garden has a realistic chance. Councils look closely at new homes in back gardens, and a plot that looks generous on a map can still struggle with access, privacy or daylight.

Our free garden plot appraisal answers that question first. We check your plot against the council’s Local Plan and the practical tests Bath and North East Somerset Council is likely to apply, then explain what we found. If the plot works, you can sell or partner on it while staying in your home, or hold on to it and let us design and build a new one there. If it doesn’t, you’ve saved the cost of finding out the hard way.

Planning authority
Bath and North East Somerset Council
Postcodes
BS31
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Noon sun, 21 December
About 15°
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Somerset

The kinds of plot we look at in Keynsham

Sometimes the plot that works isn’t a single garden at all. Two or three adjoining back gardens in Keynsham 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 Keynsham

Daylight is one of the first things Bath and North East Somerset Council will look at on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Keynsham 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 Keynsham: 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 Keynsham: 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 Keynsham

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 Keynsham 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 Keynsham

Is there a charge for assessing my plot in Keynsham?

No. The garden plot appraisal is free and carries no obligation. We do a desktop check of access, size, title and the planning picture, talk it through with you and arrange a site visit if it looks viable. You can stop at any point without owing anything.

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

The decision is made by Bath and North East Somerset 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 Keynsham overshadowing the neighbours?

By testing the layout against the sun and the council’s guidance. At midday on 21 March the sun in Keynsham is about 39° up, so a 5 m eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.3 m; in December it is far lower. Spacing, roof height, orientation and single-storey designs all help keep light where it belongs.

Can you build a house in my back garden in Keynsham 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.