- Planning authority
- Wiltshire Council
- Postcodes
- SN11
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Wiltshire
Calne: light, access and policy
In Calne, applications for a new home in a garden are decided by Wiltshire 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.
From first call to decision
If your Calne plot already has planning permission, we begin by checking the approved drawings and conditions against the site. Some permissions need detailed design, discharge of conditions or a minor amendment before they can be built. We then prepare the technical drawings, arrange Building Regulations approval and the warranty, apply for utility connections and give you a written quote to build.
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
- 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 own garden gets smaller and the new home will be visible from your house, so screening and separation matter for both homes.
- 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.
Calne: questions to ask
Can I build a house in my garden in Calne and keep the land?
Yes. On our design and build route you remain the owner while we design the home, apply to Wiltshire 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.
Can the new home in my Calne 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.
Do new homes in Calne 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.
How close can a new house be to my own in Calne?
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 Wiltshire 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 Calne
- Garden plot option agreement
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Plot feasibility and design
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Sell part of your garden