Backland Development
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Build a home for family in your garden in Chesham

If you have a long or wide garden in Chesham, there may be room for a home where a parent or grown-up child can live close by with their own front door. That might mean an annexe used with your house, or a home that stands alone with permission and paperwork of its own.

Buckinghamshire Council decides either way, so the first step is to find out what your plot can realistically carry. Our free plot appraisal covers access, space, privacy and the main planning constraints, and talks through who the home is for, before you spend any money on drawings.

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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
Buckinghamshire Council
Postcodes
HP5
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Buckinghamshire

Before you decide in Chesham

How the two households will live together shapes the planning case as much as the drawings do. If your parent will eat with you, share the garden and rely on you day to day, an annexe is the natural fit, and that is what Buckinghamshire Council will expect the application to describe. If your son or daughter will run their own home, pay their own bills and perhaps sell up one day, it is a separate dwelling and will be assessed against the council’s Local Plan as a new house. For a family in HP5, we help set that out clearly from the start.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Chesham: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.8 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Chesham on 21 March sits about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. In December the sun is only about 15° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

What happens next in Chesham

From first call to keys, a family home in Chesham follows a clear order. Free appraisal and site visit; measured survey and design around the person moving in; a planning application to Buckinghamshire Council; approval under the Building Regulations and any CIL exemption claimed before work starts; then the build, with you living next door throughout. You receive a written quote after design and survey, and we keep the household updated at each stage.

  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. Annexe or separate home

    We set out both routes for your plot, covering what each means for planning, ownership, council tax, CIL and VAT, so you can decide with your family and advisers before design starts.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

Worth checking early

  • An annexe tied by planning condition usually can’t be sold or let separately, which limits flexibility later.
  • A separate home needs its own garden, parking, bins and access, so it needs more land than an annexe.
  • VAT savings available on a separate dwelling often don’t apply to an annexe; take advice from a tax adviser before choosing.

Chesham: questions to ask

Can you design a home in Chesham for a relative who uses a wheelchair?

Yes. The design can include a level approach and threshold, turning space in each room, a wet room, wider doors and worktops at a usable height. Where Buckinghamshire Council requires a particular access standard through planning, the design meets it; otherwise it’s your choice how far to go. Input from your relative’s occupational therapist is well worth having.

Can I reclaim VAT on a family annexe in Chesham?

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.

Will an annexe in Chesham 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. Buckinghamshire Council’s council tax team can tell you how the rules apply to your household.

Can I build a separate house in my Chesham garden for my son or daughter?

Possibly, if the plot can work as a home in its own right. Buckinghamshire Council will look at access, parking, garden space for both houses, privacy and the character of the street, as it would for any new house. If permission is granted, the plot can be transferred to your child with its own title, with your lender’s consent if the house is mortgaged.

Other options in Chesham

Family home in your garden near Chesham

Find out what your garden could become

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

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