- Planning authority
- Exeter City Council
- Postcodes
- EX1, EX2, EX3, EX4
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.1 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Devon
How it plays out in Exeter
A new home beside yours affects light to your side windows and your neighbour’s. Around the spring equinox, the noon sun over Exeter climbs to roughly 39°, and a 5 m eaves line then casts a shadow close to 6.1 m long. By December the midday sun reaches only about 16°, so the same wall shades far more ground.
On a side plot that shadow may fall across your own flank wall or the neighbour’s garden. We model it for your actual plot, and adjust the footprint, roof shape or gap at the side so the new home doesn’t take more light than it should.
How we’d take it forward in Exeter
An enquiry about a side plot in Exeter can begin with a quick call and a couple of photos of the side of your house and the street. We follow up with a desktop appraisal and, if it’s promising, a site visit. If you sell, heads of terms come next and your solicitor takes over. If you build, we move to survey and design, then a written quote.
Free plot appraisal
We look at your plot on maps, the title plan and street views, check planning history nearby and talk it through with you. If a home beside yours looks possible we visit. No cost, no obligation.
Read the street
We measure the plot and record the building line, the gaps between houses, roof heights, materials and boundary walls, then check where a new drive could go and what drivers would be able to see from it.
Choose your route
Sell the plot outright, sell it subject to planning, or grant an option while you keep your house. Or keep the land and have us design, get planning for and build a new home on it.
Design and planning
We draw a home that sits in the street rather than fighting it, usually take pre-application advice, and submit the application. The council consults neighbours and decides; small schemes often take a few months.
Worth checking early
- Corners kept open by design can be harder to build on than they look; character can matter more than space.
- A new drive close to a junction may not be acceptable to the highway authority, which can force a different layout.
- Losing a side garden or drive changes how your house works day to day, from parking to getting bins round the back.
Your questions, answered for Exeter
Could I sell just my side garden in Exeter and stay put?
Yes. Legally it’s a transfer of part: HM Land Registry gives the side plot a title of its own, while your house keeps the rest. A mortgage lender has to consent to releasing the plot from its charge. Where the plot suits, we buy with or without planning, subject to survey, title and contract.
Which body approves a new home on a side plot in Exeter?
The planning decision belongs to Exeter City Council. It checks the proposal against the council’s Local Plan, national policy and its own design guidance, and asks neighbours and the highway authority for their views first. Our role is to prepare and submit a strong application; approval or refusal is the council’s call alone.
Is there a fee for checking my side plot in Exeter?
There’s no fee. The appraisal is free and you’re under no obligation. We work from maps, the title and a phone call first, and only visit if the plot seems worth it. Nothing binds you until you’ve picked a route and read the written terms.
Can you build a home beside my house in Exeter for my family?
Yes. A home next door can give a parent or grown-up child their own front door while keeping them close. You keep the land; we draw the house, apply for permission, build it and arrange the structural warranty or other cover lenders accept. The written quote comes after design and survey.
Other options in Exeter
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Sell part of your garden
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Tandem and landlocked plots