Build a new home in your garden in Slough

Keep the land, gain a home: that is the design and build route we offer to garden owners in Slough. Instead of selling a plot to a developer, you commission the new house yourself, with us managing design, planning, approvals and construction on your behalf.

It suits owners who can fund a build, or arrange finance for one, and who want the finished home rather than a land sale. If that isn’t you, our sell-or-partner routes may fit better, and the free appraisal compares both for your plot so you can choose with the facts in front of you.

Timber-frame house under construction with scaffolding at the bottom of a back garden, seen from the patio
Planning authority
Slough Borough Council
Postcodes
SL1, SL3
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Berkshire

How it plays out in Slough

In Slough, applications for a new home in a garden are decided by Slough Borough Council, which weighs them against the council’s Local Plan and national policy. Officers look at access, privacy, daylight, parking, bins, drainage and how much garden is left for each house, and neighbours can comment during consultation.

We read the local policies and any design guidance before drawing a line, and check the planning history of nearby plots for decisions that show how the council has applied them. If the policy picture is uncertain, pre-application advice lets us test the scheme with officers before the formal application goes in.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Slough: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.6 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Slough on 21 March sits about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. In December the sun is only about 15° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

What happens next in Slough

Getting started in Slough takes one step from you: send your address and a few photos of the garden, or call us. We check the title plan, access and planning constraints from our desk, then talk the plot through. If it looks viable we arrange a visit, discuss whether you want to sell, let or keep the new home, and set out the survey and design stage in writing before you commit.

  1. Free plot appraisal

    We check the title plan, access, constraints and planning policy from our desk, talk the plot through with you, and visit if it looks viable. There’s no cost and no obligation.

  2. Survey and design

    A measured survey records levels, boundaries, trees and neighbouring windows. We then design a layout and house that suit the plot, the street and your budget, and decide whether pre-application advice is worth seeking.

  3. Planning and approvals

    We submit the planning application and manage it to a decision, then deal with conditions, Building Regulations approval, the structural warranty, any build-over agreement and the new utility connections.

  4. Handover

    You receive the completion certificate, warranty documents, Energy Performance Certificate, manuals and utility details, so the new home is ready to move into, let or put on the market.

Worth checking early

  • Planning can be refused, and money spent on surveys, design and the application isn’t recovered if it is — which is why we start with an appraisal.
  • You fund the build and carry the cost risk; ground conditions, sewer diversions or supply upgrades found later can move the price.
  • Your own garden gets smaller and the new home will be visible from your house, so screening and separation matter for both homes.

Your questions, answered for Slough

Can the new home in my Slough garden connect to the main sewer?

Usually, yes, but the route and depth decide how easily. The new home needs its own foul connection, agreed with the water company, and gravity drainage is simplest where the sewer sits lower than the new floor. If it doesn’t, a pumped connection may be needed. Where a public sewer runs under your garden, a build-over agreement or diversion may also be required.

Will I pay Community Infrastructure Levy on a new home in Slough?

Only if Slough Borough Council has adopted a Community Infrastructure Levy charging schedule; not every council has. Where it applies, it can be charged on a new home of any size. A self-build exemption exists for people building a home to live in, but it must be claimed before work starts, so we check the position at design stage.

Can I build a house in my garden in Slough and keep the land?

Yes. On our design and build route you remain the owner while we design the home, apply to Slough Borough Council for planning, deal with Building Regulations and build it. The finished house can be sold, let or kept for family. Whether your plot can take a house depends on access, space, neighbours and local policy, and the decision rests with the council.

Who decides planning for a garden house in Slough?

Slough Borough Council decides applications for addresses in Slough, using the council’s Local Plan, national policy and its own design guidance. Neighbours and consultees such as highways officers can comment, and the decision is made by the council’s planning officers or, where the rules allow, its planning committee. Pre-application advice from the council can help test a scheme before the formal application is submitted.

Other options in Slough

Build in your garden near Slough

Find out what your garden could become

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