Backland Development
0800 088 6248Free to call Free plot appraisal

Build a home for family in your garden in Golborne

Bringing an elderly parent to live beside you in Golborne often feels like the obvious answer, until you look at what the house can offer. A spare room up a flight of stairs rarely suits someone whose mobility is failing. A purpose-built single-storey home in the garden can.

We offer design and build of garden homes for family across Greater Manchester, with no steps to climb, a bedroom at ground level and a walk-in shower built in from day one. Planning goes through Wigan Council, and we prepare and manage the application for you. Start with a free plot appraisal and we’ll tell you honestly whether your garden looks suitable.

Get a free appraisalCheck my garden
Single-storey garden home with wide glazed doors and a covered porch at the back of a family garden
Planning authority
Wigan Council
Postcodes
WA3
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.8 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Greater Manchester

Before you decide in Golborne

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 Wigan 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 WA3, we help set that out clearly from the start.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Golborne: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.8 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 21.5 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Golborne: around 37° of sun at midday in late March and about 13° 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 Golborne

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

  • 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.
  • 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.

Golborne: questions to ask

Do I need planning permission for a granny annexe in Golborne?

Yes, almost always for a detached annexe with its own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Wigan Council will treat it as accommodation linked to your home and will usually add a condition so it can’t be let or sold separately. A garden building used only as a home office or gym is a different matter, but sleeping and cooking take it beyond those allowances.

How much garden do I need for a family home in Golborne?

There’s no fixed figure. A single-storey annexe close to the house can work on a smaller plot than a separate dwelling, which needs its own garden, parking and access. What matters is whether Wigan Council can be satisfied on privacy, daylight and the space left for both homes. The free appraisal gives you a first view based on your plot’s actual shape and access.

How long will building work disrupt my home in Golborne?

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.

Who owns an annexe built in my Golborne 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.

Other options in Golborne

Family home in your garden near Golborne

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