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

If you have a long or wide garden in Yeovil, 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.

Somerset 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
Somerset Council
Postcodes
BA20, BA21, BA22
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.2 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Somerset

Yeovil: light, access and policy

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 Somerset 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 BA20, BA21 and BA22, we help set that out clearly from the start.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Yeovil: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 16 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.2 m21 Dec, noon: sun 16°, shadow 17.9 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Yeovil: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 16° 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 Yeovil. 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 Somerset 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. 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

  • Family plans change: agree ownership, costs and what happens if circumstances change in writing, with a solicitor.
  • VAT savings available on a separate dwelling often don’t apply to an annexe; take advice from a tax adviser before choosing.
  • An annexe tied by planning condition usually can’t be sold or let separately, which limits flexibility later.

Yeovil: questions to ask

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

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 Somerset 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.

Can you design a home in Yeovil 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 Somerset 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 build a separate house in my Yeovil garden for my son or daughter?

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

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

Other options in Yeovil

Family home in your garden near Yeovil

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