Many residential properties in the City, such as tenements or subdivided houses, share a communal backcourt or rear garden that is accessed via a common corridor and back door in the property.

Sometimes owners of ground floor flats wish to change a window to a door to provide them with a private access to the backcourt. If implemented, however, this would be likely to lead to an additional path being formed to the drying green or bin store. It could also lead to an informal annexation by one owner of the area of the backcourt immediately adjacent to their door. Both these changes would lead to a marked reduction of general garden area and would be detrimental to the residential amenity of the other occupiers who share the backcourt.

Planning permission will not be granted for the creation of a personal access door on to a communal backcourt or rear garden.