Access to garden through the house

[Tooldnowx]

I am planning to create a corridor in the side garage of the house which leads through to the kitchen, almost in a straight line, into the garden. The corridor will be part of the garage conversion and on top of that will be a single storey addition.

What do you think about that? Should I either have the access in the normal way or does an inside access sound sensible?

So cut off a bit of garage to have a corridor into the kitchen which leads to the garden? Feels like a waste of space a bit.

Would you have to pull the wheelie bin/wheelbarrow through the kitchen to put it out for collection/move heaps of garden stuff about? If there's any possibility you need any work done on the outside of your house in the future, I'd go for external access to the back of the house.

It is a semi detached and I want to get the maximum space. If I make the access along the side I would lose from the kitchen. I would have to break through the kitchen which was built to the boundary.

Can I create access through the park that the garden backs up to? Is that allowed? It would be a burglar’s dream I guess?

@Tooldnowx

Can I create access through the park that the garden backs up to? Is that allowed? It would be a burglar’s dream I guess?

Several families on a new estate in my town did that. Their houses back onto what is a sort of village green cum sports field. The council made them nail the gates back up again as there was no right of access, or whatever you call it. Now they just dump their garden waste over the fence and into the park instead.

@Tooldnowx

Can I create access through the park that the garden backs up to? Is that allowed? It would be a burglar’s dream I guess?

You would need permission of the landowner and ideally a legal right of access, otherwise future owners could find it a problem and the property become difficult to sell. Can you not just design the extension wall with a side path outside?

Garden access is important. I would be OK with going through a garage or lean to storage. At a push I'd be ok going through a utility room. I wouldn't put a kitchen / diner / family room across rear access, or an office.

This is a drawing of the idea

Here

Is that going through your living room or is the front square the garage??

I have 2 friends in semis who have garden access through the garage and then through the kitchen. Both hate it and find it hugely disruptive at times eg when it comes to having their trees trimmed and it’s all schlepped through the kitchen; window cleaning; any kind of trade work that’s outside.

I think you just have to be aware of the limitations and try to mitigate against it. One friend gets a big order for garden stuff in the spring so she only has the disruption once.

That is through the garage. A gate would be put on the side. The flooring in the garage would be hard floor and we would put gym equipment there.

Deux it backs up onto a public park. We could throw the trees over the fence then collect and dispose? The park is nice and clean and there’s no fly tipping or bad behaviour like that.

Isn’t the park public access? What is the difference between accessing the park through a back gate that I put into my fence versus entering the park through another way? I’m not sure.

You need to add more to your diagram and show a bit more of the rest of the layout for it to make sense.

I don’t understand why, if your house is already semi detached, you need to go through your kitchen. Surely the point of a semi detached house is you can walk down one side of it to the back garden without going indoors?

Does this help?

I wouldn’t do it as you’ll lose space at the front but won’t get direct access with the kitchen in way. I’d just make sure there a garage door that’s easy to access if you need to go through.

Are you allowed vehicular access in the park? One friend only has a single storey extension which is a flat roof and the window cleaners get into her back garden by climbing over the roof. Is that an option for you?

That is the big problem JoJoSM2. The space will be lost but we do not want two doors at the front of the house and we do not want access to be through the main part of the house. We are thinking of creating access part of the way and allowing access through the kitchen that has been extended to the wall. A back gate into the park would be perfect but other posters believe this would be illegal.

I still don't understand!

Is this what you are planning or what's already there?

I would not live in a house where the only garden access was through the house.

But if your house is already built to the boundary you're surely over-complicating things as you can already take stuff from front to back and vice versa via the front door > hallway > kitchen > back door route.

There is no vehicle access but it is a short walk to the back of the house.

I would not want to go through kitchen every time. If you have children, dogs etc that would be really awkward. The park may be a public space but it most likely belongs to local council. You would need permission from them and they may say no as it sets a precedent. .

This sounds like a really bad idea.

Not just for you, but if you ever want to sell.

Hardasnails we are converting the garage to something useable and building on top of it to create a couple of bedrooms. We are therefore thinking it is an opportunity to create a side access but without smashing the kitchen/diner which we updated only a few years ago. This is how we purchased the property years ago.

Sorry I am forgetting to mention that there are 2 or 3 houses that have gates leading to the park.