Backland Development
0800 088 6248Free to call Free plot appraisal

Build a new home in your garden in Kettering

Building a second home behind your own in Kettering is a construction project with one unusual feature: you live beside the site from the first spade to the last coat of paint. That shapes how we plan it, from the fence that separates your garden on day one to where deliveries park.

The route covers everything between an idea and a finished house. We survey and design, prepare and submit the planning application, arrange Building Regulations approval and the structural warranty, organise new water, drainage and electricity connections, and then build. You keep ownership of the land throughout.

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Timber-frame house under construction with scaffolding at the bottom of a back garden, seen from the patio
Planning authority
North Northamptonshire Council
Postcodes
NN15, NN16
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.5 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Northamptonshire

What shapes a plot in Kettering

Construction on a Kettering garden plot runs to a programme agreed once North Northamptonshire Council has issued permission and any pre-commencement conditions have been dealt with. Groundworks and foundations come first; the shell and roof follow, then glazing, internal trades and, last of all, the drive and planting.

Weather matters. Around 21 December the sun in Kettering climbs to only about 14° at midday, so winter days are short and wet ground slows the work. Where we can, we order the job so the house is weathertight before the worst months arrive.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Kettering: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 14 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.5 m21 Dec, noon: sun 14°, shadow 19.8 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Kettering on 21 March sits about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.5 m. In December the sun is only about 14° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

From first call to decision

Getting started in Kettering 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. 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.

  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

  • You fund the build and carry the cost risk; ground conditions, sewer diversions or supply upgrades found later can move the price.
  • A build next door means months of noise, deliveries and contractors near your home; good planning reduces the disruption but doesn’t remove it.
  • Building and selling a new home can change your tax position compared with selling only your house; take advice from a tax adviser first.

Your questions, answered for Kettering

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

Yes. On our design and build route you remain the owner while we design the home, apply to North Northamptonshire 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.

Do new homes in Kettering need a structural warranty?

If the house will ever be sold or mortgaged, in practice yes. Mortgage lenders usually expect a 10-year structural warranty on a new home, though some accept an architect’s or surveyor’s certificate, and a warranty provider inspects the work at stages during the build, so it has to be in place before construction starts. Building control approval is separate and also required; a buyer’s solicitor will ask for both.

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

Only if North Northamptonshire 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.

How close can a new house be to my own in Kettering?

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 North Northamptonshire 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 Kettering

Build in your garden near Kettering

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

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