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

The first question for any family in Burntwood thinking about building in the garden is usually this: annexe or proper house? The answer turns on the person moving in, how long they’re likely to stay, and whether you might ever want to sell or let the building on its own.

An annexe is used with your home and usually tied to it by condition. A separate dwelling stands alone, with its own permission and potentially its own title. Lichfield District Council assesses them on different terms, and council tax, CIL and VAT rules split along the same line. Our free plot appraisal sets out both, so you can decide with your family and your advisers.

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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
Lichfield District Council
Postcodes
WS7
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.6 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Staffordshire

Burntwood: light, access and policy

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 Burntwood is about 37° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.6 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 14°, 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 Burntwood: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 14 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.6 m21 Dec, noon: sun 14°, shadow 20.2 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Burntwood: around 37° of sun at midday in late March and about 14° 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 Burntwood

From first call to keys, a family home in Burntwood follows a clear order. Free appraisal and site visit; measured survey and design around the person moving in; a planning application to Lichfield District 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. 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.
  • Planning is the council’s decision, and an annexe is not a way round the rules that apply to a new house.
  • VAT savings available on a separate dwelling often don’t apply to an annexe; take advice from a tax adviser before choosing.

Burntwood: questions to ask

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

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

Yes, almost always for a detached annexe with its own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. Lichfield District 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.

Who owns an annexe built in my Burntwood 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.

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

Possibly, if the plot can work as a home in its own right. Lichfield District 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 Burntwood

Family home in your garden near Burntwood

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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