- Planning authority
- Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
- Postcodes
- BL6
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 36°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.8 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Greater Manchester
Before you decide in Horwich
Take a walk round the junctions near you, in Horwich and in Westhoughton, Hindley and Bolton. Side gardens that already have a house on them show the kind of thing the council has accepted before, although each new application stands on its own and is judged under today’s policy. A corner that is still open will draw closer attention.
Those local tests are written into the council’s Local Plan and any design guidance Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council has adopted. Reading both before we draw means the scheme already answers the points an officer is likely to raise.
The next steps, locally
Give us your Horwich address and a sense of what you’re hoping for. Our desktop review covers the policies Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council works to, recent applications on nearby side and corner plots, and anything in your title that might restrict building. A clear result leads to a visit when it suits you, after which we explain each route and what it would mean in practice.
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.
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.
Sale or build
For a sale, your solicitor handles the transfer of part and any release from your lender. For a build, a written quote follows design and survey, then we build, arrange the warranty and hand over.
Worth checking early
- The council decides, and neighbours are consulted; a sensible design can still be refused or need changes.
- Losing a side garden or drive changes how your house works day to day, from parking to getting bins round the back.
- A new drive close to a junction may not be acceptable to the highway authority, which can force a different layout.
Your questions, answered for Horwich
Is my Horwich side garden wide enough for a new house?
It depends on how wide homes are in your street, the gaps between them, whether the new home would be attached or detached and what the council’s design guidance says. There’s no single minimum width. We measure your plot and the street as part of a free appraisal.
Which body approves a new home on a side plot in Horwich?
The planning decision belongs to Bolton Metropolitan Borough 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.
Could I sell just my side garden in Horwich 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.
Can you build a home beside my house in Horwich 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 Horwich
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Sell part of your garden
- Build a new home in your garden
- Bungalows on large plots