- Nation
- England
- National planning policy
- NPPF
- Planning authorities
- 6
- City
- Cambridge
Getting it right in Cambridgeshire
Planning rules for rear gardens in Cambridgeshire 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 Cambridgeshire include Cambridge City Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Peterborough City Council, South Cambridgeshire District 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 Cambridgeshire
Questions about large rear gardens in Cambridgeshire
Do you look at large rear gardens in Cambridgeshire?
Yes. We cover the whole of Cambridgeshire, as part of our coverage across England and Wales. Send us your address and a few details about your garden, and we’ll carry out a free desktop appraisal before suggesting a site visit.
Do I have to sell, or will you build on my land in Cambridgeshire?
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.
Can neighbours combine their gardens in Cambridgeshire?
Yes. Several adjoining back gardens can be put together for one scheme with a shared access, which can give a better layout than separate plots. Each owner keeps their own house, and an agreement shares the value fairly even when only one garden provides the way in.
How much is a garden plot in Cambridgeshire worth?
It depends on location, size, access, title and, above all, planning. Two similar gardens in the same street can be worth very different amounts if one has easy access and the other doesn’t. We don’t quote figures before we’ve looked at a plot properly; the free appraisal is the way to find out.