Can You Build In Your Garden?

What Is Garden Grabbing?
The Pros & Cons Of Garden Grabbing

The government's rule change on housing is to take our much loved British gardens out of the land categorised as 'brownfield'. But what does this mean?

By Kate Faulkner

Broadly, the new ruling means it will not be as easy to secure planning for new properties to be built in your or your neighbour's back garden.

How Many Homes Are Built In Back Gardens?

According to the CLG (Communities), in 2008, 80 per cent of homes were built on brownfield, up from 56 per cent in 1997, but this included taking down old warehouses and building new estates or taking a derelict warehouse and turning it into trendy city centre flats. As gardens were classified as brownfield land too, and with many people selling up older homes or wanting to make a quick buck by selling off part or all of their garden, building new homes in people's back gardens more than doubled from 11 per cent in 1997 to 23 per cent by 2008.

Latest Changes

The latest news from the coalition government confirms that plans are being made to take gardens out of the brownfield category, enabling local authorities to stop planning permission being given to development where local people object and want to protect the 'character' of their neighbourhood.

What's The Impact Of Building In Our Gardens?

Building in our back gardens can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on where you live and what exactly is built. For example, in town centres where green space and gardens are at a premium, having more buildings crammed in can take away from the only green space for miles, mean increased local traffic and will drive away any wildlife.

On the other hand, in many villages which have large properties that no-one can afford or wants, or people with a small cottage and an acre of land around, selling the garden off for development can be a great way to expand the village without actually changing its character.