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

Bringing an elderly parent to live beside you in Chichester 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 West Sussex, with no steps to climb, a bedroom at ground level and a walk-in shower built in from day one. Planning goes through Chichester District 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.

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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
Chichester District Council
Postcodes
PO19, PO20
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.1 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
West Sussex

Before you decide in Chichester

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 Chichester District 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 PO19 and PO20, we help set that out clearly from the start.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Chichester: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 16 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.1 m21 Dec, noon: sun 16°, shadow 17.8 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Chichester on 21 March sits about 39° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.1 m. In December the sun is only about 16° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

How we’d take it forward in Chichester

Here’s what happens next for a family home in Chichester. 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 Chichester District 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. 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

  • An annexe tied by planning condition usually can’t be sold or let separately, which limits flexibility later.
  • 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.

Your questions, answered for Chichester

Can you design a home in Chichester 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 Chichester District 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 reclaim VAT on a family annexe in Chichester?

Often not. HMRC’s guidance gives an annexe that can’t be used or sold separately from the main house as an example of work that can’t be zero-rated, and the DIY housebuilders refund scheme asks the same question. A separate dwelling is usually treated differently. Take advice from a tax adviser before you settle the planning route, because the wording of the permission matters.

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

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 Chichester District 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 I build a separate house in my Chichester garden for my son or daughter?

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

Family home in your garden near Chichester

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