What the houses are like

Woburn Sands sits on the Lower Greensand, which is much what it sounds like. The town is one of the borough conservation areas, and the housing runs from Victorian and Edwardian villas along the main roads to later twentieth century development behind them. Aspley Guise, Aspley Heath, Woburn and Ridgmont sit within a few minutes of it.

Planning authority: Milton Keynes City Council

Porcelain paving with a contrasting border, box planting and a sleeper edged bed

The ground behaves differently up here

Sandy subsoil tends to drain quickly, which is often helpful for soakaways and usually kinder to foundations than the shrinkable clays found elsewhere in the county. What sand does do is collapse, so trench sides generally need proper support, and any deep excavation near an existing wall calls for care. Ground conditions vary from plot to plot and are confirmed on site, with Building Control inspecting the trench before concrete goes in.

It matters for hard landscaping too. On free draining ground a permeable block paved surface is often a practical way of dealing with surface water within the property boundary, which can be relevant where a new driveway would otherwise need permission.

Conservation area considerations

Woburn Sands appears on the council conservation area list, so street facing alterations tend to attract more scrutiny and permitted development rights may be narrower than on the open estates. On the Victorian villas the details that usually matter are window proportions, the roof covering and the chimneys. As always, the specifics depend on the property and are worth confirming with the council.