In back gardens from Birkdale to Ainsdale, there’s been a kind of housing experiment quietly growing.
To some degree, we should hope this kind of experimentation wouldn’t be necessary, but the housing crisis has meant more people turning to innovative solutions to pressing problems in their lives. In the face of rising care home costs, long waiting lists, and ageing parents with nowhere to go, Southport families have been looking at the space they have in their garden over a bed in a home on the High Street.
Instead of paying the steep fees for long-term care contracts, some are building budget-friendly insulated garden cabins. This keeps one’s elderly parents close by while still having their own space, and costing much less than a full house extension.
Southport’s care home crunch
Around 24% of the residents in Sefton, one of the “older” boroughs of England, are aged 65 or older, far above the national average. Depending on the ward, up to a third of residents can be past retirement age.
This makes it a good example to show what solutions to cost of care make sense.
Online care home comparisons suggest the average care home fee in Sefton is around £1,291 per week for self-funders, or over £5,000 a month. Across the UK, that average is roughly £949 a week, with nursing homes even higher. And unfortunately, that’s not even the full story. Some say that once top-ups and other upgrades are taken into account, fees can go even higher.
Even where money is less of an issue, the places themselves are understaffed for the caregiving needed. Sefton Council’s own reports highlight an ageing population and pressure on adult social care budgets.
So, many are turning to the traditional alternative: building an extension for their ageing parents. But this routinely costs £40,000–£80,000 for a decent-sized extension in the Southport area, an expense that many have trouble with as an upfront cost, not to mention the construction and planning.
The garden cabin solution
What we’re now seeing pop up are neat, timber cabins tucked behind townhouses. These are not the same as garden sheds, but rather are insulated, wired, and heated rooms designed for year-round use.
The price is one of the big selling points, at £20,000 and £30,000 for a good-quality cabin, including installation, depending on size and specification. Suppliers can put one up in just a few days after the base is ready.
A well-insulated log cabin in the garden offers Southport families an affordable alternative to care home fees or costly house extensions.
It’s a simple, effective solution that can give an older parent the space they need and decent living conditions for a fraction of the cost.
Used in the right way, that structure can give an older parent many people want in later life: independence, but with a safety net of nearby support. Age UK notes that many older people prefer to “age in place” with family nearby, provided the home can be adapted to meet changing mobility and care needs.
Typical arrangements in the North West consist of:
- A single-level cabin at the end of the garden with step-free access
- A bedroom-living space and compact shower room
- A short, well-lit path to the main house so relatives can visit several times a day
Even putting budget aside, it’s a solution that avoids moving a parent to an institution or far from their children. The semi-independence the situation provides is ideal, as they can keep their own front door, daily routines, and privacy, while still being nearby for any needs or emergencies.
Planning, comfort and safety: what to think about
Before breaking ground, there are a few things to consider.
Planning permission
In most other cases, small outbuildings like these count as “permitted development” (Class E), which is a low threshold of planning permission as long as it’s within a certain height, size, and position.
However, the official Planning Portal guidance is clear that to qualify as permitted development, any new outbuilding “must not itself be separate, self-contained, living accommodation.” Once a building is used for living or sleeping, it falls outside permitted development and needs full planning permission.
For Sefton specifically, the council notes that outbuildings such as sheds and greenhouses can often be sited in gardens without an application. A “granny annexe” or cabin where someone will regularly sleep is a different category. Planning guidance on annexes is explicit that bedroom-based accommodation in the garden will require a formal planning application.
Heating and insulation
North West winters often require additional attention to insulation and heating concerns, especially down by the coast.
For these log cabins, this means upgrading to a well-insulated one if you want it to be livable year-round. Double glazing, proper insulation on walls, floors, and the roof, and electric heaters are the recommended route for this.
Layout and proximity
It’s also important to consider distance from the main home. Most Southport families place parents in garden cabins that are within clear sight of the house, usually about 5–15 metres away. That allows for:
- A straight, level path suitable for walking frames or wheelchairs
- Outdoor lighting and possibly sensor lights for night-time trips
- A simple call system, so their parent can easily summon their help
Inside the cabin, you should expect to build in level thresholds, grab rails, and space for a walking frame or wheelchair to manoeuvre. Even if this isn’t necessary when it is being built, consider that they might be needed in 5-10 years time.
Age UK’s guidance on housing options in later life stresses the importance of matching the home to the level of care needed. For individuals who need a lot of support, stronger accommodations are necessary. Garden cabins work best at the lighter end of that scale, often with visiting carers or family members providing daily help.
Counting the cost: cabins vs care homes
When you put the numbers side by side, it becomes a little more clear why more Southport residents are exploring this route.
- Typical cabin cost: £25,000 (mid-range insulated model, installed)
- Typical care home costs: if a Sefton care home charges around £1,200 a month after contributions, that is £14,400 a year. At the higher end, many self-funders pay well above this, with some homes charging the equivalent of £4,000–£5,000 a month.
Although somewhat of a back of the envelope calculation, it’s plausible that two years of lower-end care home fees could buy a garden cabin outright. Three years of fees could easily exceed the full cost of a high-spec annexe, plus fittings and paths.
Of course, that does not account for the care costs, the other thing you are paying for with the above. Most families still pay for visiting carers, cleaning and other support, and someone in the household has to be available in an emergency. So, it’s not an apples to apples comparison. But it can still give you an idea of the options available.
There are other financial angles too:
- The cabin remains a flexible asset. Once it is no longer needed for an elderly parent, it can become a home office, guest room, studio or even temporary accommodation for grown-up children trying to save for their own place.
- For parents with only moderate needs, living on the same plot as family can delay or avoid the move into more expensive housing indefinitely.
A community-level solution for an ageing town
Charities such as Age UK and Independent Age have long argued for a wider range of housing options for older people. It’s been an unfortunate choice between “struggle on at home” and “move into a home” for far too long. Garden cabins are just one option that has cropped up and gained traction among many.
For Southport and the wider Sefton area, we’re also seeing community benefits:
- Less pressure on stretched care services. Every older resident safely housed with family support is one less urgent placement the council has to find.
- Keeping people rooted. Instead of moving out of town to whichever care home has a bed, older residents can stay near their GP, church, clubs and familiar shops.
- Stronger family ties. Grandparents in a cabin at the bottom of the garden still do school pick-ups in Churchtown, attend nativity plays in Kew and meet friends in town. The informal childcare, emotional support and neighbourliness that older residents provide is not lost to the system.
This solution will not fit every family. Some parents need 24-hour nursing or specialist dementia care that only a regulated home can provide. Others do not have gardens large enough for an outbuilding, or their children aren’t well-suited to provide the care needed. But these exceptions don’t make the rule.
As more Southport families quietly test out this garden-based approach, it is becoming part of the town’s answer to a national problem: how to age in place, with dignity, and within budget.