Backland development in Sevenoaks

Some gardens in Sevenoaks are long enough, or wide enough, to take a new home without crowding the houses around them. Others aren’t, and it’s better to know which you have before spending money on drawings. That’s what our free garden plot appraisal is for.

We check the size and shape of the plot, how a car and a fire engine could reach it, what the title says, which trees are protected and what the council’s Local Plan says about garden land. Then we tell you plainly what we think. If it could work, we’ll explain the routes, from selling the plot to keeping it and having us build on it. If it can’t, we’ll say so.

Planning authority
Sevenoaks District Council
Postcodes
TN13
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 Sevenoaks

Land that’s hard to reach isn’t automatically a lost cause. In Sevenoaks, as anywhere, a plot behind houses with narrow, shared or no access can sometimes be opened up by combining it with a neighbour’s garden, using an existing shared drive, or buying the strip of land that controls the way in. Ransom strips and rights of way need careful legal checks, and the council will look hard at a tandem layout where one house sits directly behind another. We’ll tell you honestly whether the access problem can be solved.

Planning and light in Sevenoaks

Daylight is one of the first things Sevenoaks District Council will look at on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Sevenoaks sits about 39° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line around 5 metres high throws a shadow of roughly 6.2 m. On 21 December the midday sun is only about 15° up and shadows are far longer. That’s why the gap between the existing house and the new one, and the height of the new roof, matter so much. We test layouts against the council’s Local Plan and any daylight guidance it publishes before anything is submitted.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Sevenoaks: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.2 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.3 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Sevenoaks: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° at midwinter. It shows why the gap between your house and a new home behind it is about light as well as privacy. Garden assumed to face north.

What we can do in Sevenoaks

Sell or partner

Design and build

By plot type

What happens next

When you’re ready, tell us about your land in Sevenoaks. A few photos help but aren’t essential. We’ll come back with a straight view of whether the plot could take a new home and which routes might suit you, from a sale to design and build. If it’s not a good fit, we’ll say so, and there’s nothing to pay either way.

Questions about garden plots in Sevenoaks

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

The decision is made by Sevenoaks District Council, 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.

Can you build a house in my back garden in Sevenoaks that I keep?

Yes. Our design and build route covers the survey, design, planning application, Building Regulations, construction and handover, while the land and the new home stay yours. You can sell it, let it or use it for family. You’ll get a written quote once the design and survey are done, and any earlier price range is a guide only.

Can I sell part of my garden in Sevenoaks?

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 Sevenoaks District Council grants permission. If planning is refused on a conditional sale, you keep your land.

How much is my garden plot in Sevenoaks 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.

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.