- Planning authority
- Dacorum Borough Council
- Postcodes
- HP4
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Hertfordshire
The local picture in Berkhamsted
Streets vary a great deal, in HP4 as elsewhere. Some have semi-detached pairs where a home attached to the end of a pair would look natural; others have detached houses with generous gaps that the council will want kept. The right answer for your plot depends on what your street looks like.
If you live near Berkhamsted, in places such as Chesham, Hemel Hempstead and Rickmansworth, the same thinking applies. We photograph and measure the street, then test which options respect it before you commit to anything.
From first call to decision
Give us your Berkhamsted address and a sense of what you’re hoping for. Our desktop review covers the policies Dacorum 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.
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.
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
- Losing a side garden or drive changes how your house works day to day, from parking to getting bins round the back.
- The council decides, and neighbours are consulted; a sensible design can still be refused or need changes.
- Attaching a home to yours brings party wall, fire and sound separation work, and changes the feel of your own house.
Questions about garden plots in Berkhamsted
Can you build a home beside my house in Berkhamsted 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.
Which body approves a new home on a side plot in Berkhamsted?
The planning decision belongs to Dacorum 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 Berkhamsted 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.
Will a new drive near the corner be allowed in Berkhamsted?
Only if drivers would have a clear enough view of the road and the junction stays safe. The highway authority comments on this and controls new dropped kerbs. Drives very close to a corner are often resisted, so we check the position on site before designing.
Other options in Berkhamsted
- Garden plot option agreement
- Large rear gardens
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Bungalows on large plots
- Sell part of your garden
- Planning permission for a garden plot