- Planning authority
- Stoke-on-Trent City Council
- Postcodes
- ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, ST6
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.6 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Staffordshire
Before you decide in Stoke-on-Trent
A home placed behind another changes the light as well as the traffic. In Stoke-on-Trent the sun peaks at roughly 37° in late March and barely 14° at the winter solstice, so shadows from even a modest building stretch a long way across a garden in the darker months.
That is why many tandem schemes use a single-storey or low-eaves design. It keeps upstairs windows from looking over neighbours and limits shadow. Stoke-on-Trent City Council decides, and its own guidance on separation distances sets the gaps it expects.
How we’d take it forward in Stoke-on-Trent
Once you get in touch about land in Stoke-on-Trent, we look at the title plan and any rights of way from the desk, then talk it through with you. If the access looks workable, we visit and measure the route, including the junction with the road. You get a plain account of the options before any planning work starts.
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.
Title and access check
With your solicitor we confirm who owns every strip between the plot and the road, what rights already exist and whether they cover a new home. Any ransom strip or missing right shows up at this stage.
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.
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.
Worth checking early
- A right of way that has served a garage or field for years may not legally cover a new house.
- 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.
- Buying out a ransom strip or a neighbour’s land costs money and time, and the other owner can say no.
Your questions, answered for Stoke-on-Trent
Do you buy landlocked land in Stoke-on-Trent?
We can, where the access problem looks solvable. Any purchase is subject to survey, title and contract. If securing access would cost more than it’s worth, or the owner of the strip won’t deal, we tell you that early rather than wasting your time.
Can I get planning permission in Stoke-on-Trent 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.
How do I find out if a lane behind my Stoke-on-Trent home is a public road?
The highway authority keeps a list of streets maintained at public expense, and anyone can inspect it free of charge. If the lane isn’t on it, it’s probably private, and you’ll need to know who owns it and whether your title gives a vehicle right of way that would cover a new home.
Is a sprinkler system needed for a home at the end of a long drive in Stoke-on-Trent?
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.
Other options in Stoke-on-Trent
- Build a new home in your garden
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Garden plot option agreement