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

For grown-up children in Gloucester, 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 Gloucester City 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
Gloucester City Council
Postcodes
GL1, GL2, GL3
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.4 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Gloucestershire

Before you decide in Gloucester

Access usually decides what a Gloucester garden can take. An annexe can often share your drive because it is used with the house, but a separate home needs an access Gloucester City Council will accept for a dwelling in its own right, with room for cars, bin collection and emergency vehicles. We cover homes in Gloucester and around Cheltenham, Stroud and Tewkesbury, and on every plot we measure the drive width, the view along the road where the access joins it, and how far bins would need to travel, before anyone draws a plan.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Gloucester: 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 Gloucester: 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.

How we’d take it forward in Gloucester

From first call to keys, a family home in Gloucester follows a clear order. Free appraisal and site visit; measured survey and design around the person moving in; a planning application to Gloucester City 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. 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

  • 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.
  • Family plans change: agree ownership, costs and what happens if circumstances change in writing, with a solicitor.
  • Planning is the council’s decision, and an annexe is not a way round the rules that apply to a new house.

Your questions, answered for Gloucester

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

Possibly, if the plot can work as a home in its own right. Gloucester City 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.

Is CIL payable on a family home in Gloucester?

Only if Gloucester City 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.

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

How long will building work disrupt my home in Gloucester?

A single garden home usually takes several months on site, with the noisiest work, such as groundworks, drainage and heavy deliveries, concentrated near the start. We agree working hours, access and parking with you up front, and with the people next door where it affects them, so your household knows what each week will look like.

Other options in Gloucester

Family home in your garden near Gloucester

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