Backland Development
0800 088 6248Free to call Free plot appraisal

Build a home for family in your garden in Aberdare

For grown-up children in Aberdare, 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 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough 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
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Postcodes
CF44
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
LDP
County
Mid Glamorgan

How it plays out in Aberdare

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 Aberdare is about 38° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.3 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 Aberdare: 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 18.9 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Aberdare: 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

Here’s what happens next for a family home in Aberdare. You tell us about your plot and who the home is for, and we carry out a free desktop appraisal of access, space and the planning context. If it looks viable we visit, then set out the annexe and separate-home options. With your go-ahead we survey, design and give you a written quote, then prepare the application for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council.

  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. 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 as they apply in Wales 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

  • 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.
  • A separate home needs its own garden, parking, bins and access, so it needs more land than an annexe.

Aberdare: questions to ask

Can you design a home in Aberdare 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 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough 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.

How long will building work disrupt my home in Aberdare?

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.

Will an annexe in Aberdare 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. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council’s council tax team can tell you how the rules apply to your household.

Is CIL payable on a family home in Aberdare?

Only if Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough 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 Aberdare

Family home in your garden near Aberdare

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