- Planning authority
- Arun District Council
- Postcodes
- BN16, BN17
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Noon sun, 21 December
- About 16°
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- West Sussex
The kinds of plot we look at in Littlehampton
Land that’s hard to reach isn’t automatically a lost cause. In Littlehampton, 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 Littlehampton
Planning applications for new homes in gardens in Littlehampton are decided by Arun District Council. Its decisions follow the council’s Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Officers usually focus on access, privacy, daylight, the character of the street and the garden left for both homes. Many councils use separation guides of around 21 metres between facing back windows and around 12 to 15 metres between a back window and a blank side wall, but Arun District Council’s own guidance decides. We prepare the application with care; the decision is always the council’s.
What we can do in Littlehampton
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 Littlehampton. 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 Littlehampton
Can you build a house in my back garden in Littlehampton 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.
Who decides planning for a new home in a garden in Littlehampton?
The decision is made by Arun District 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 Littlehampton overshadowing the neighbours?
By testing the layout against the sun and the council’s guidance. At midday on 21 March the sun in Littlehampton is about 39° up, so a 5 m eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.1 m; in December it is far lower. Spacing, roof height, orientation and single-storey designs all help keep light where it belongs.
What happens if planning is refused for a plot in Littlehampton?
If you agreed a sale subject to planning, the contract doesn’t complete and you keep your land. We’ll then look at the reasons Arun District Council gave and tell you honestly whether a revised application, an appeal or stopping is the sensible choice. Nothing about your own house changes.