Tandem and landlocked plots in Eastleigh

If a new home on your Eastleigh land would share your drive, or reach the road across a neighbour’s land, the access is the first thing to sort. Councils treat tandem layouts carefully because of noise, headlights and privacy for the house in front, and building control checks fire and bin access.

Legal access is a separate matter that sits with the title, and your solicitor will need to confirm it. We look at planning and access together during a free, no-obligation appraisal, then talk you through what could work, what wouldn’t, and which route would suit you.

Narrow gravel drive running between two brick houses to an open gate and a garden plot behind
Planning authority
Eastleigh Borough Council
Postcodes
SO50
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.2 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Hampshire

The local picture in Eastleigh

Back lanes behind homes in SO50 can be public roads, private tracks or a mix of both. If the lane is maintained at public expense, it will be on the list of streets the highway authority keeps, which anyone can check. If it’s private, you need a right to use it with vehicles for a new home.

We check that before planning anything, then look at how Eastleigh Borough Council is likely to judge a home reached from the back rather than past the front.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Eastleigh: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 16 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.2 m21 Dec, noon: sun 16°, shadow 17.9 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Eastleigh: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 16° 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.

The next steps, locally

Call us or use the form and tell us roughly where the land is and how you reach it now. We check the title and the planning history around Eastleigh, then come back to you. If the access can’t be secured on sensible terms, we’ll say so plainly and early, and there is nothing to pay for the appraisal.

  1. Free plot appraisal

    We start with the access, not the plot: title plans, rights of way, the width on the ground and the route to the road. It’s a desktop check and a conversation, with a site visit if it looks viable, at no cost.

  2. Secure the way in

    If a right of way needs widening, a strip needs buying or a neighbour needs to come in, we agree the approach with you and negotiate it, so the terms are settled before planning money is spent.

  3. Planning application

    We design a layout that answers the access, privacy and neighbour questions councils ask about tandem and backland plots, then apply. The council consults neighbours and decides, and the decision is always the council’s.

  4. Sale or build

    Depending on the route you chose, the sale completes through a transfer of part, or you keep the land and we give a written quote for building the new home after design and survey.

Worth checking early

  • Access is usually the deciding factor on these plots, so a large plot with a poor way in may not be a building plot at all.
  • Long or narrow drives can mean extra cost for sprinklers, passing places, lighting or a bin collection point.
  • Planning permission gives no right to cross land you don’t own; the legal access has to be secured separately.

Questions about garden plots in Eastleigh

Will Eastleigh Borough Council accept a shared drive for a new home in Eastleigh?

It can, but shared drives are looked at closely. The council will consider the width, visibility at the road, the effect on the house beside the drive, and whether fire and bin access work. A drive with a clear gap from windows and screening alongside generally fares better.

Can I get planning permission in Eastleigh before the access is sorted?

You can apply for planning on land you don’t own, as long as the owners are formally notified. But permission doesn’t give a right to cross anyone’s land. Most of the time it makes sense to agree access terms first, so the permission can actually be used.

Is a sprinkler system needed for a home at the end of a long drive in Eastleigh?

It may be. In England, where a fire engine can’t get within 45 metres of all points inside the home, other measures, often sprinklers, may be accepted if building control and the fire service agree. In Wales, every new house needs sprinklers anyway. Building control decides what’s needed for the specific layout.

Could my neighbour and I in Eastleigh share one new access?

Often, yes. If both your gardens are long, combining them can give one shared drive and a better layout than either garden alone. Each owner keeps their house, and a written agreement sets out how the value is shared fairly.

Other options in Eastleigh

Tandem and landlocked plots near Eastleigh

Find out what your garden could become

Free garden plot appraisal. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer if it won’t work.