Backland Development
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New homes on garage courts and yards in Crowthorne

Building on a garage court or yard in Crowthorne is a form of backland development: homes on land behind existing buildings, reached by a lane rather than facing the street. Unlike a back garden, the site has usually been built on before, which can count in its favour.

It also brings extra checks: who rents the garages, who crosses the court, what is in the roof sheets and the soil, and whether the lane can take more traffic. We work through those for free, then explain each route, from a straightforward sale to a full design and build.

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Row of old lock-up garages in a tarmac court behind a terrace of brick houses
Planning authority
Bracknell Forest Council
Postcodes
RG45
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Berkshire

Crowthorne: light, access and policy

Parking is a common worry on garage court schemes, in Crowthorne as elsewhere. If people living in RG45 use the garages, the council may ask where those cars will go once the site is built on. Showing how many garages actually hold cars, rather than storage, can make a real difference.

The new homes need parking of their own, along with turning space, bin storage and room for fire engine access (or other measures, often sprinklers, agreed with building control and the fire service where a fire engine can’t get close enough). Bracknell Forest Council will look at all of it, so we plan the lane and parking before the homes themselves.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Crowthorne: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.4 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Crowthorne: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° at midwinter. It shows why the gap between your house and a new home behind it is about light as well as privacy. Garden assumed to face north.

How we’d take it forward in Crowthorne

Here’s what happens after you contact us about a garage site in Crowthorne. We look at the title plan, maps and the planning history, then call you to talk through who uses the garages and the lane. If the site looks viable we visit, check access, buildings and neighbours, and send a plain summary of the options, with no obligation.

  1. Free site appraisal

    We look at the site on maps, the title plan and the planning history, then talk through who uses it now. If it looks workable we visit. There’s no cost and no obligation.

  2. Rights and title review

    We map who has rights over the court and lane, which garages are let and on what terms, and whether any covenants, charges or strips of land you don’t own could block a scheme.

  3. Choose your route

    Sell the site outright or subject to planning, grant an option, or keep it and have us design, get planning for and build. Garage tenancies and licences are ended properly before any work starts.

  4. Planning, then sale or build

    We prepare and submit the application and the council decides. If you sell, your solicitor handles the transfer. If you build, a written quote follows design and survey, then demolition and construction.

Worth checking early

  • Neighbours whose gardens back onto the court are consulted and may object; the council decides.
  • A narrow or unadopted lane can restrict the number of homes, or require sprinklers, a turning space or bin collection point.
  • Rights of way over the court or lane can limit what you can build, and some arise from long use rather than the title.

Crowthorne: questions to ask

Do I need an asbestos survey for garages in Crowthorne?

Yes, before demolition. Health and Safety Executive guidance says a refurbishment and demolition survey must find asbestos before structural work begins. Older garage roofs are often asbestos cement sheeting. Specialists carry out the survey and removal, and we build both into the plan.

Will you buy my garages in Crowthorne with tenants in them?

Possibly. Any purchase is subject to survey, title and contract, with or without planning in place. Existing tenancies and licences must be brought to an end properly under their own terms, and when that happens forms part of the agreed deal. Get legal advice before any notice is served.

Can I build houses on my garage block in Crowthorne?

Possibly, if the lane works for cars, bins and emergency access, neighbours’ privacy and light are protected, and rights over the site can be dealt with. Homes there need planning permission, which is Bracknell Forest Council’s decision. A free appraisal shows whether the site merits going further.

Can you build homes on my yard in Crowthorne if I keep it?

Yes. You keep ownership while we handle the lot: surveys, demolition of the old buildings, design, the planning application, construction and the structural warranty that buyers’ lenders tend to need. A written quote is given once design and survey are complete; guide prices before then are only guides.

Other options in Crowthorne

Garage courts and yards near Crowthorne

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