Backland development in Harrow

If your house in Harrow has a long back garden, a wide side plot or a row of garages behind it, there may be space for a new home. Backland Development gives you two ways to use that land. You can sell or partner on the plot and carry on living in your house, or you can keep it and have us design, get planning for and build a new home there.

Every enquiry from Harrow and nearby places such as Bushey, Brent and Watford starts the same way: a free garden plot appraisal with no obligation. We look at the plot from a desk, talk it through with you and arrange a visit if it looks viable. Planning decisions rest with the London Borough of Harrow, so we never promise an outcome.

Planning authority
London Borough of Harrow
Postcodes
HA1, HA2, HA3, HA5, HA7
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Noon sun, 21 December
About 15°
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Greater London

The kinds of plot we look at in Harrow

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 Harrow and nearby places such as Bushey, Brent and Watford. The free appraisal shows which of these choices are realistic for your land, and what each would involve.

Planning and light in Harrow

Planning applications for new homes in gardens in Harrow are decided by the London Borough of Harrow. 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 the London Borough of Harrow’s own guidance decides. We prepare the application with care; the decision is always the council’s.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Harrow: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.7 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Harrow on 21 March sits about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. In December the sun is only about 15° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

What we can do in Harrow

Sell or partner

Design and build

By plot type

What happens next

If you’d like to talk it through first, call us. There’s no script and no hard sell. We’ll ask a few questions about your plot in Harrow, explain how the free appraisal works and answer what we can on the spot. If it makes sense to go further, we’ll agree the next step together; if it doesn’t, you’ve lost nothing.

Questions about garden plots in Harrow

Can I team up with my neighbours in Harrow?

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.

Who decides planning for a new home in a garden in Harrow?

The decision is made by the London Borough of Harrow, using the council’s Local Plan, the NPPF and its own design guidance. Small schemes are usually decided by planning officers, and national and council rules set out when one can go to a planning committee instead. We prepare and submit the application and answer the council’s questions, but we can’t promise the outcome.

How long does a garden plot deal in Harrow 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.

What happens if planning is refused for a plot in Harrow?

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 the London Borough of Harrow gave and tell you honestly whether a revised application, an appeal or stopping is the sensible choice. Nothing about your own house changes.

Nearby

Find out what your garden could become

Free garden plot appraisal. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer if it won’t work.