- Planning authority
- Dorset Council
- Postcodes
- DT5
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Noon sun, 21 December
- About 16°
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Dorset
The kinds of plot we look at in Portland
A bungalow on a big plot gives you more choices than most homes. You might keep the bungalow and build a new home beside or behind it, or replace it with two or more homes if the council would support that. We also look at long back gardens, corner plots, garage courts, yards and land with tricky access across Portland and nearby places such as Weymouth, Dorchester and Poole. The free appraisal shows which of these choices are realistic for your land, and what each would involve.
Planning and light in Portland
Planning applications for new homes in gardens in Portland are decided by Dorset Council. Its decisions follow the council’s Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Officers usually focus on access, privacy, daylight, the character of the street and the garden left for both homes. Many councils use separation guides of around 21 metres between facing back windows and around 12 to 15 metres between a back window and a blank side wall, but Dorset Council’s own guidance decides. We prepare the application with care; the decision is always the council’s.
What we can do in Portland
Sell or partner
- Sell part of your garden
- Sell subject to planning
- Garden plot option agreement
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
Design and build
- Build a new home in your garden
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Plot feasibility and design
By plot type
- Large rear gardens
- Corner and side plots
- Garage courts and yards
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Bungalows on large plots
What happens next
Getting a first view of your plot in Portland costs nothing. Send us the address through the form, or give us a call, and we’ll check access, size, title and the planning picture from our desk. If it looks promising, we’ll visit, explain the routes that could work and put the main terms in writing before you’re asked to decide anything.
Questions about garden plots in Portland
Can I team up with my neighbours in Portland?
Yes, and it can make a weak plot workable. Combining adjoining gardens can allow one shared access and a better layout. Each owner keeps their house, and a collaboration agreement sets out decisions, costs and how value is shared through equalisation. Every household should have its own solicitor.
How much is my garden plot in Portland worth?
There’s no honest figure without looking at the plot. Value depends on location, size, access, title and planning, and costs such as a long drive or difficult ground come straight off what the land is worth. Our free appraisal looks at all of that before we talk about price.
What happens if planning is refused for a plot in Portland?
If you agreed a sale subject to planning, the contract doesn’t complete and you keep your land. We’ll then look at the reasons Dorset Council gave and tell you honestly whether a revised application, an appeal or stopping is the sensible choice. Nothing about your own house changes.
How long does a garden plot deal in Portland usually take?
It depends on the route. A sale of a plot that already has planning moves at the pace of the solicitors and your lender. Routes that need planning usually take many months, because of surveys, design, the council’s decision period and any amendments. Design and build usually takes well over a year in total.