- Planning authority
- Leeds City Council
- Postcodes
- LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, LS6
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 36°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.8 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- West Yorkshire
Before you decide in Leeds
Access is where a garden plot anywhere in LS1, LS2, LS3 and LS4 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.
What happens next in Leeds
Getting started in Leeds 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.
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.
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.
- Building and selling a new home can change your tax position compared with selling only your house; take advice from a tax adviser first.
Leeds: questions to ask
Will I pay Community Infrastructure Levy on a new home in Leeds?
Only if Leeds City 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.
Who decides planning for a garden house in Leeds?
Leeds City Council decides applications for addresses in Leeds, 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 Leeds and keep the land?
Yes. On our design and build route you remain the owner while we design the home, apply to Leeds City 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 you visit gardens in Leeds 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.
Other options in Leeds
- Plot feasibility and design
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Corner and side plots
- Garden plot option agreement
- Large rear gardens
- Tandem and landlocked plots