- Planning authority
- Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
- Postcodes
- AL9, AL10
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Hertfordshire
Before you decide in Hatfield
A new home beside yours affects light to your side windows and your neighbour’s. Around the spring equinox, the noon sun over Hatfield climbs to roughly 38°, and a 5 m eaves line then casts a shadow close to 6.3 m long. By December the midday sun reaches only about 15°, 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 Hatfield
After you contact us about a side or corner plot in Hatfield, we start with a desktop check: maps, the title plan, street views and nearby planning history. We then call to talk through what you want. If the plot looks viable, we visit, measure the street and check the drive position. You get a plain summary of the options, with no obligation.
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
- Losing a side garden or drive changes how your house works day to day, from parking to getting bins round the back.
- Attaching a home to yours brings party wall, fire and sound separation work, and changes the feel of your own house.
- A new drive close to a junction may not be acceptable to the highway authority, which can force a different layout.
Hatfield: questions to ask
Can you build a home beside my house in Hatfield 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.
Can I build a house on my corner plot in Hatfield?
Possibly, if a new home would respect the building lines, keep the corner feeling open enough and allow safe visibility for drivers. It needs planning permission, and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council decides. Our free appraisal tells you whether your corner is worth taking further.
Will a new drive near the corner be allowed in Hatfield?
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.
Is my Hatfield 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.
Other options in Hatfield
- Large rear gardens
- Garden plot option agreement
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Bungalows on large plots
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours