- Planning authority
- Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
- Postcodes
- LE18
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.5 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Leicestershire
What the council will look at in Wigston
Overlooking decides many garden schemes in Wigston. With the noon sun at about 37° in late March, when a 5 m eaves line casts shade around 6.5 m deep, and with back windows facing in several directions, space matters.
On a combined site there’s room to turn the new homes, use single-storey elements near boundaries, and keep upstairs windows away from neighbours. Many councils use separation guides of around 21 metres between facing back windows, and around 12 to 15 metres from a back window to a blank side wall. Oadby and Wigston Borough Council’s own guide decides.
From first call to decision
Once the group is interested, we meet the owners, together or one by one, and set out the routes and how equalisation would work. Heads of terms follow. Each owner’s own solicitor reviews the collaboration agreement and the sale, option or promotion documents, and lenders are asked to consent early. Then the single application goes to Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.
Free appraisal of the combined land
We look at all the titles together, the possible access points, the surrounding homes and the planning policies that apply, then explain whether a combined scheme looks realistic and roughly what it might allow.
Meet the neighbours
We meet the owners together or separately, explain how the scheme and the routes work, and answer questions. We don’t approach your neighbours without your agreement, and nobody is committed at this stage.
Agree how value is shared
Heads of terms set out the route, each owner’s share, any extra for the garden providing the access, what happens if someone drops out, and the cap on each owner’s reasonable legal fees where it applies.
One planning application
We prepare and submit a single application for the whole site, with one shared access and a layout designed around all the existing homes. The council decides it, and nobody can promise the result.
Worth checking early
- If the garden providing the access drops out before signing, the whole scheme may not work.
- The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
- Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.
Wigston: questions to ask
Does each Wigston owner keep their own house and garden?
Yes. Each owner keeps their house and an agreed garden for it. Only the land behind is transferred, as a transfer of part at HM Land Registry. New boundaries and fencing for each house are agreed as part of the design.
How many neighbours in Wigston need to take part?
As few as two can be enough. What matters is that the gardens taking part make a workable site and that one of them provides access to the road. We tell you which gardens are essential and which would simply improve the scheme.
Will Oadby and Wigston Borough Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Wigston?
It often gives the council a better scheme to assess, with one proper access and more space between homes. But every application is judged on its merits against the council’s Local Plan, and the decision is the council’s. We test the layout against its policies before applying.
Can neighbours in Wigston combine their back gardens for new homes?
Yes, where the gardens adjoin and there’s a workable access. Each owner keeps their house, the land behind is planned as one site, and a collaboration agreement sets out how the value is shared. Oadby and Wigston Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.
Other options in Wigston
- Sell subject to planning
- Sell part of your garden
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Garden plot option agreement
- Build a new home in your garden
- Planning promotion for your garden plot