Couple Builds Modern Home in Victorian Garden

0:00On March 7th, architects Will and Sogan Howard have built a sleek modern home right in the back garden of a Victorian terrace in Catford, southeast. London, they bought the 35-meter plot from a neighbor for 200,000 pounds and spent 360,000 pounds on construction. That total maps the price of a rundown house on the same street, but they got a bigger, energy-efficient space tailor just for them in there, four-year-old son. The idea spared during lockdown when the couple, stuck in a tiny flat, started scouting long gardens on walks. They wrote over 100 letters to owners and hit gold with a family eager to sell their unused land to fund a bungalow upgrade elsewhere. Planning permission came easy, thanks to Lewisham Council's supportive small-side policies. Families thought their letter-writing campaign was odd at first, but the Howard saw it as the norm for unlocking hidden plots. Many owners want to sell, but get tangled in joint ownership or red tape, leaving small sites off the market.

1:00Now, the couple has launched Bricka Lodge projects to help others self-build. Government data shows just 4,302 permissions for service self-filled plots in England last year, down 18 percent, and half the late 2010s peak, the UK lacks far behind Europe on self-build rates. Planning single homes like this into gardens eases housing chains without big disruptions, freeing a flat for others. With smarter national policies, it could transform how we add homes in tight spots like London.