The house hidden in the garden of a Catford terrace

"We had a lot of time on our hands. It started as a bit of a dream, really. The couple took lots of walks - making notes of big gardens and writing more than 100 letters to homeowners whose gardens or side plots looked promising. Our families thought it was strange. They saw us writing to people they considered completely random. But that's very often how the land market works in this country."

"As architects, we knew that if we bought an older house, we'd then end up spending extra to bring it to the standard we wanted. Building gave us another route. Through their search, the Howards discovered that many opportunities exist but accessing them can be complicated. Some gardens were jointly owned, other potential plots fell foul of inconsistent planning policies."

"In theory, identifying small sites is quite easy. The challenge is getting those sites onto the market in a way that ordinary people can actually buy them. The couple struck lucky finding a family who had already been trying to sell off their garden."

Will and Sogand Howard, both architects, created an innovative housing solution by constructing a modern home in a garden behind Victorian terraces in Catford, southeast London. The project began during lockdown as a personal solution to their cramped flat living situation. The couple systematically searched for suitable land by taking walks through neighborhoods and sending over 100 letters to homeowners with promising gardens or side plots. They discovered that while small building sites exist throughout the country, accessing them remains complicated due to joint ownership issues, inconsistent planning policies, and homeowners' uncertainty about selling procedures. Rather than purchasing an existing older property requiring renovation, building new allowed them greater control over design standards. Eventually, they found a family already attempting to sell their garden, making the project feasible.

Read at www.bbc.com