Backland Development
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Build a home for family in your garden in Houghton Regis

For grown-up children in Houghton Regis, the step to a first home can be a long one. If your garden is big enough, a small separate house on part of it could become theirs: with its own planning permission and title, it can be mortgaged in their name and sold when they move on.

That asks more of the plot than an annexe does, including its own garden, parking and an access Central Bedfordshire Council will accept. We look at all of that in a free plot appraisal, then design and build the home if the scheme stacks up and you want to go ahead.

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Single-storey garden home with wide glazed doors and a covered porch at the back of a family garden
Planning authority
Central Bedfordshire Council
Postcodes
LU4, LU5
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.4 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Bedfordshire

Houghton Regis: light, access and policy

Daylight matters twice over when the new home is for a relative who spends much of the day indoors. At noon on 21 March the sun in Houghton Regis is about 38° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.4 m. A single-storey annexe with eaves at half that height casts one about half as long, which is one reason low buildings often sit more easily in a garden. By late December the midday sun climbs only about 15°, so we test winter light on both homes, and on next-door gardens, before the layout is fixed.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Houghton Regis: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.4 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 19.1 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Houghton Regis: around 38° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° 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.

From first call to decision

The next step is a conversation, by phone or through the form, about your garden in Houghton Regis and who the new home is for. We check access, title, the main planning constraints and any CIL position for your address, then tell you whether an annexe, a separate home or neither looks realistic. If neither does, we’ll say so and explain why.

  1. Free plot appraisal

    We look at your plot, access and the planning picture from the desk, talk through who will live in the new home, and visit if it looks viable. There’s no cost and no obligation.

  2. Survey and design

    A measured survey, then a design built around the person moving in: step-free routes, a ground-floor bedroom if needed and privacy for both households. You get a written quote after design and survey.

  3. Planning and approvals

    We prepare and submit the planning application and manage it with the council, which makes the decision. Before work starts, approval under the Building Regulations is in place and any CIL exemption has been claimed.

  4. Build and handover

    We build while you carry on living next door, with access, deliveries and working hours agreed up front. At handover you get the completion certificate and the paperwork you’ll need for council tax, lenders and any VAT claim.

Worth checking early

  • An annexe tied by planning condition usually can’t be sold or let separately, which limits flexibility later.
  • VAT savings available on a separate dwelling often don’t apply to an annexe; take advice from a tax adviser before choosing.
  • CIL exemptions are lost if work starts before the claim is made, and can be withdrawn if the home is sold or let within three years.

Your questions, answered for Houghton Regis

Who owns an annexe built in my Houghton Regis garden?

You do. An annexe stays on the title of your house and usually carries a planning condition tying it to the main home, so it can’t be transferred to the relative living in it. If a family member is paying towards it, record what they’ve put in and what happens on a sale in a written agreement drawn up by a solicitor.

Will an annexe in Houghton Regis put up my council tax?

It might. Annexes can be banded separately, but exemptions exist for annexes lived in by certain dependent relatives, and in some cases a discount applies where family live there or the annexe is used as part of the main home. Who qualifies depends on the relative’s circumstances and how the annexe is used. Central Bedfordshire Council’s council tax team can tell you how the rules apply to your household.

Can I reclaim VAT on a family annexe in Houghton Regis?

Often not. HMRC’s guidance gives an annexe that can’t be used or sold separately from the main house as an example of work that can’t be zero-rated, and the DIY housebuilders refund scheme asks the same question. A separate dwelling is usually treated differently. Take advice from a tax adviser before you settle the planning route, because the wording of the permission matters.

Is CIL payable on a family home in Houghton Regis?

Only if Central Bedfordshire Council has adopted the Community Infrastructure Levy, which its website will confirm, and we check it for you during the appraisal. Where it applies, self-build and residential annexe exemptions exist, but both must be claimed before work starts and can be withdrawn if the home is sold or let within three years of completion.

Other options in Houghton Regis

Family home in your garden near Houghton Regis

Find out what your garden could become

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

Get my free appraisal 0800 088 6248