- Nation
- England
- National planning policy
- NPPF
- Planning authorities
- 2
- City
- Milton Keynes
What to know in Buckinghamshire
Planning rules for rear gardens in Buckinghamshire come in layers. National tests come from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), each council’s Local Plan adds local ones, and many councils publish design guidance with separation distances and garden sizes. Many use around 21 metres between facing back windows, but the figure your own council uses is the one that counts. Because those local rules differ from one council to the next, we check the policies for your exact address before suggesting any layout, and we tell you plainly if a garden is unlikely to work.
Planning authorities covering Buckinghamshire include Buckinghamshire Council, Milton Keynes City Council.
How it works
Free plot appraisal
We look at your garden using maps, the title plan and the planning history around you, then talk it through with you. If it looks workable we arrange a site visit. There’s no cost and no obligation.
Measure and test the layout
We check depth, the width of the way in, levels, trees, drains and what lies behind, then sketch what could realistically fit: one home, two, or nothing worth pursuing, before anyone pays for an application.
Choose your route
You decide whether to sell the plot outright, sell subject to planning, grant an option, team up with neighbours, or keep the land and have us design, get planning for and build a home on it.
Planning application
We prepare the drawings and reports, usually take pre-application advice, and submit. The council consults neighbours and decides. Small schemes often take a few months from submission, longer if surveys or amendments are needed.
Sale or build
If you sell, your solicitor handles the transfer of part and your lender’s release of the plot. If you build, we give a written quote after design and survey, then build and hand over the new home.
Large rear gardens in towns across Buckinghamshire
- Milton Keynes
- High Wycombe
- Aylesbury
- Bletchley
- Amersham
- Chesham
- Gerrards Cross
- Chalfont St Peter
- Marlow
- Newport Pagnell
Questions about large rear gardens in Buckinghamshire
Is planning policy for back gardens the same across Buckinghamshire?
No. National policy, the NPPF, applies everywhere, but each council adds its own plan and design guidance. Separation distances, garden sizes and parking standards can all differ. That’s why we never quote one rule for a whole county and always check the policies for your address.
What fire and drainage rules apply to garden homes in Buckinghamshire?
Every new home must allow 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). On drainage, expect a drainage plan the council will want to see. Both can affect where a home sits in a long garden and how the drive is laid out, so we check them early rather than after the design is drawn.
Do I have to sell, or will you build on my land in Buckinghamshire?
Either works. On the selling side there’s an outright sale, a sale subject to planning, an option, or a planning promotion on bigger or combined gardens. On the building side, you keep the land and we take a new home from design through planning to handover. A free appraisal comes first.
Do I need my own solicitor to sell a plot in Buckinghamshire?
Yes, always. Your solicitor checks the contract, deals with the transfer of part at HM Land Registry and asks your mortgage lender to release the plot if the house is mortgaged. On option and promotion agreements we cover your reasonable legal fees, with the cap agreed in heads of terms before work starts.