Building on Backland, Garden and Garage Sites in London

Four kinds of backland sites in London

Each kind of small site has its own typical problem. Knowing which one you have tells you where to look first.

1. Backland. Land behind a row of buildings, with no street frontage. Often old yards, workshops or the ends of long gardens. The problem is nearly always the way in.
2. Garden land. Part of a residential garden, usually a large one or a corner plot. Many local plans resist schemes that harm an area of gardens, so design carries the application.
3. Garage courts. Rows of lock-up garages behind estates or terraces. The access is usually there. The ownership is the puzzle.
4. Infill and gap sites. A gap in a street, an end-of-terrace plot or a corner. Easy to reach, very visible, so the design has to fit the street.

The planning position for small sites

The London Plan's small sites policy, Policy H2, is the starting point. It treats sites of 0.25 hectares or less as small sites. It asks boroughs to identify them and support well-designed new homes, especially near stations and town centres.

Your borough's local plan then adds the rules that decide most applications. Those cover character, garden land, design, amenity and parking. Four other points shape small schemes:

1. Garden land is not brownfield. National policy excludes residential gardens in built-up areas from previously developed land.
2. Affordable housing. National policy seeks it on major development: 10 or more homes, or 0.5 hectares or more. Some boroughs set their own small-site rules.
3. Car parking. In well-connected parts of London, new homes are expected to be car-free or close to it. That helps tight sites.
4. Biodiversity net gain. From 6 August 2026, sites of 0.2 hectares or less are exempt, unless a priority habitat is affected.

Most garden, garage and backland plots now fall under the biodiversity net gain small-sites exemption. Trees, protected species and local greening policy still apply.

Seven tests every small site must pass

These are the questions our team asks on every small site. They run roughly in the order they kill schemes.

1. Access. Can people, deliveries and emergency services get in? Check the width, the gradient, visibility at the street and who owns every metre.
2. Fire and refuse. Building Regulations expect a fire engine to get close enough to reach every part of a new house. Residents should not carry bins too far either. Deep plots often need sprinklers or other measures.
3. Neighbours. Overlooking, privacy, daylight, sunlight and outlook. Boroughs set distances between facing windows in their design guides. Low, set-down designs are how most backland homes pass.
4. Character. Does the new building belong? Height, materials, roof form and the pattern of gardens around it all count.
5. Trees and nature. Protected trees and their root zones can take a large bite out of a site. A mature tree in the wrong place can halve it.
6. Ownership and rights. Title, rights of way, restrictive covenants and any ransom strip between the site and the road. Garage courts may have tenancies to end.
7. The numbers. Small sites carry high fixed costs: access works, services, party walls and a cramped build. The homes must sell for enough to cover them.

For the last test, see our guide to development appraisal, GDV and residual land value. Pass all seven on paper before you pay for a full design.

Why small sites are harder to build than they look

Constraints do not stop at planning. Building behind houses changes how the job is run.

• No room for a crane, so materials come in by hand or small plant.
• Neighbours on every side, so working hours and noise need managing.
• Drainage that has to reach a sewer you may not own.
• Scaffold and storage squeezed into whatever space is left.

That is why we price small sites with our own construction team before anyone commits to a design. On a tight plot, logistics can move the build cost more than the specification does.

Making a small site bigger by assembling plots

The most valuable small sites are often several plots together. Three long back gardens, each too narrow alone, can share one access. Together they can take a short terrace of homes. A garage court with twelve owners becomes a site once someone brings them together.

That is site assembly. It means agreeing terms with each owner, usually conditional on planning. The combined site is then designed and consented as one. It takes patience and fair terms, and it is often where the real value sits.

Whether your site is the right size for us

To be honest, one house in one back garden is usually below what we take on. Our development schemes run from £3M to £150M GDV. Assembled gardens, larger backland plots and garage courts often clear that, and we would rather tell you early.

Not sure what your land could take? Start with what can I build on my land. Or ask for a feasibility check that answers access, planning, cost and value together.

If your plot passes most of these, it is worth a proper look. Book a site visit and we will walk the access and the boundaries with you.