Outbuildings are common features in the West End but the quality of their design can make a big difference to the appearance and usage of your garden or backcourt.
Garages and Garden Huts
Consent is unlikely to be granted for a flat-roofed garage built of pre-cast concrete. The ideal, although dear, would be a brick or blockwork garage with a pitched slate roof. Otherwise a traditional timber garage with a pitched felt roof is the best bet. If well-built and maintained, it can be just as serviceable as a brick garage, and its colours and textures are much more appropriate. Similarly, traditional garden huts constructed in timber with a pitched felt roof are preferable to those very modern in appearance.
Conservatories
Conservatories are a traditional and increasingly common feature in the West End, and if sensitively designed, they can be an attractive and idiosyncratic addition to a house.
Bin Stores
The lack of proper bin stores is a major problem in the West End, especially where houses are subdivided into flats. Unless occupiers are very careful, gardens and back courts can quickly become unsightly health hazards if bins are grouped haphazardly and overflow with rubbish. If you are refurbishing your rear garden, it is wise to either renew or build a bin store to keep your rubbish bins tidy and out of sight. Bin stores should ideally be built against the rear boundary wall in a matching brick and a pitched roof. If possible, fit a gate to keep out stray dogs.
Most rear gardens and backcourts in the West End are bounded by walls in stone or brick, sometimes topped with railings or terra cotta copes, and usually accessed through iron or timber gates. Repairs should always match existing features and be of the highest possible standard. If you want to reinstate your back garden wall, rebuild it to match the original. In certain circumstances is it permissible to rebuild a wall in sand-faced concrete blocks.
Garden gates should be either plain timber or ironwork (depending on the tradition in your street), and should be painted a dark colour. Remember that any alteration to garden walls (eg for car parking) requires planning consent (see Planning Controls for further details.)
A well-designed extension will look more attractive (and be a more valuable investment) if it is designed to blend in with the style of the original house.
Most West End streets are "adopted" for maintenance by the City Council. Nearly all back lanes (and a few streets) are not adopted, and here maintenance is the responsibility of the adjacent proprietors. If your back lane is badly potholed, try to organise a residents' committee to repair or resurface it. Use a material in keeping with your area, such as cobbles, setts, asphalt or blaize.
For contact numbers and addresses for City Council services regarding applications for Planning Permission and Building Warrants, see Statutory Bodies and Other Organisations.
