- Planning authority
- Torridge District Council
- Postcodes
- EX39
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.2 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Devon
What shapes a plot in Bideford
Access is where a garden plot anywhere in EX39 tends to succeed or fail. A new drive needs enough width for cars, clear visibility where it meets the road, and enough distance from neighbouring windows to keep noise and headlights in check.
Policies in the council’s Local Plan, along with any highways advice the council receives, decide the detail for your address. We measure the gap beside your house on the first visit, and if it’s too tight for a home that can be approved and built safely, we’ll tell you before any design fees are spent.
From first call to decision
Getting started in Bideford 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.
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.
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.
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.
Written quote and build
Once design and survey are complete you get a written quote. The build runs in stages — access and groundworks, foundations, frame and roof, fit-out and external works — with inspections at each key point.
Worth checking early
- A build next door means months of noise, deliveries and contractors near your home; good planning reduces the disruption but doesn’t remove it.
- 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.
Questions about garden plots in Bideford
Do you visit gardens in Bideford before giving advice?
We start with a desk review of the title plan, access, constraints and planning policy, then talk the plot through with you. If it looks viable, we arrange a site visit to see the access, levels, trees and neighbouring windows for ourselves. The appraisal is free and carries no obligation.
Who decides planning for a garden house in Bideford?
Torridge District Council decides applications for addresses in Bideford, 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.
Can I build a house in my garden in Bideford and keep the land?
Yes. On our design and build route you remain the owner while we design the home, apply to Torridge District 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.
How close can a new house be to my own in Bideford?
There’s no single national distance. 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 the guidance used by Torridge District Council decides. Window positions, ground levels, roof shape and screening all affect what is acceptable, which is why we survey before we design.
Other options in Bideford
- Plot feasibility and design
- Large rear gardens
- Sell part of your garden
- Sell subject to planning
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Tandem and landlocked plots