- Planning authority
- Medway Council
- Postcodes
- ME1
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Noon sun, 21 December
- About 15°
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Kent
The kinds of plot we look at in Rochester
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 Rochester and nearby places such as Chatham, Strood and Gillingham. The free appraisal shows which of these choices are realistic for your land, and what each would involve.
Planning and light in Rochester
Planning applications for new homes in gardens in Rochester are decided by Medway 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 Medway Council’s own guidance decides. We prepare the application with care; the decision is always the council’s.
What we can do in Rochester
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 Rochester 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 Rochester
Can I team up with my neighbours in Rochester?
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.
Can I sell part of my garden in Rochester?
Often, yes, if the plot is big enough, has a workable access and stands a reasonable chance of planning. We buy suitable plots directly, with or without planning, subject to survey, title and contract, or agree a sale that only completes if Medway Council grants permission. If planning is refused on a conditional sale, you keep your land.
How long does a garden plot deal in Rochester 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.
How do you stop a new home in Rochester overshadowing the neighbours?
By testing the layout against the sun and the council’s guidance. At midday on 21 March the sun in Rochester is about 39° up, so a 5 m eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.3 m; in December it is far lower. Spacing, roof height, orientation and single-storey designs all help keep light where it belongs.