Backland Development
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Build a new home in your garden in Whitchurch

Building a second home behind your own in Whitchurch 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
Shropshire Council
Postcodes
SY13
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.6 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Shropshire

How it plays out in Whitchurch

Construction on a Whitchurch garden plot runs to a programme agreed once Shropshire 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 Whitchurch 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 Whitchurch: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 14 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.6 m21 Dec, noon: sun 14°, shadow 20.7 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Whitchurch: around 37° of sun at midday in late March and about 14° 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.

How we’d take it forward in Whitchurch

Once you ask for an appraisal of your Whitchurch garden, we start with the paperwork: the title plan, any covenants, flood maps, tree and conservation designations, and planning decisions on nearby plots. A short call follows, then a site visit if the plot passes the desk check. You get our straight view of what’s realistic and what happens next, with no obligation to go further.

  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. 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.

  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

  • Your own garden gets smaller and the new home will be visible from your house, so screening and separation matter for both homes.
  • Building and selling a new home can change your tax position compared with selling only your house; take advice from a tax adviser first.
  • A build next door means months of noise, deliveries and contractors near your home; good planning reduces the disruption but doesn’t remove it.

Your questions, answered for Whitchurch

Can I build a house in my Whitchurch garden and then sell it?

Yes. You keep the land while the home is built, then sell the finished house. Before building starts, the plot should be given its own title through a transfer of part at HM Land Registry, and if your house is mortgaged your lender must agree to release the plot. Selling a home you’ve built can change your tax position, so take advice from a tax adviser first.

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

Only if Shropshire 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 Whitchurch?

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 Shropshire Council decides. Window positions, ground levels, roof shape and screening all affect what is acceptable, which is why we survey before we design.

Who decides planning for a garden house in Whitchurch?

Shropshire Council decides applications for addresses in Whitchurch, 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.

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Build in your garden near Whitchurch

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