Backland development in Bicester

Backland Development is a new brand within the S&K Group, helping homeowners in Bicester make use of land behind and beside their houses. We buy suitable plots directly, subject to survey, title and contract, and we also offer sales subject to planning, options, planning promotion, joint ventures and design and build.

We won’t claim a long list of past schemes on your street, because we’re new. What we will do is give you a straight view of your plot, put the main terms in writing as heads of terms, and expect your own solicitor to check them. On option and promotion agreements, your reasonable legal fees are covered, with the cap agreed in advance.

Planning authority
Cherwell District Council
Postcodes
OX6, OX25, OX26, OX27
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Noon sun, 21 December
About 15°
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Oxfordshire

The kinds of plot we look at in Bicester

Sometimes the plot that works isn’t a single garden at all. Two or three adjoining back gardens in Bicester can often be combined into one scheme with one shared access, giving a better layout than any of them alone. Each owner keeps their house, and a collaboration agreement with an equalisation clause shares the value fairly. If your own garden is too narrow or too short to work on its own, it’s worth asking whether the neighbours might be interested too.

Planning and light in Bicester

Shadows tell a council a lot about a garden plot. In Bicester, the noon sun on 21 December reaches only about 15° above the horizon, while by 21 March it has climbed to around 38°, when a 5 m eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.4 m. On a garden plot anywhere in OX6, OX25, OX26 and OX27, that difference shapes how far apart the old and new homes need to be, which windows face which way, and whether a single-storey or roof-lit design would sit more comfortably. Planning officers at Cherwell District Council will expect those effects on neighbours to be understood before they decide.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Bicester: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.4 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 19.1 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Bicester: around 38° 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 Bicester

Sell or partner

Design and build

By plot type

What happens next

The next step is simple. Use the form or call us with your Bicester address and, if you can, a rough idea of the garden’s length, width and how a vehicle might reach it. We’ll do a desktop check, talk it through with you and arrange a site visit if the plot looks viable. There’s no cost and no obligation.

Questions about garden plots in Bicester

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

The decision is made by Cherwell 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 I sell part of my garden in Bicester?

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

Do you look at garage courts and yards in Bicester?

Yes. Garage courts, lock-up blocks, old yards and outbuildings behind houses can sometimes take a new home, especially where a vehicle access already exists. We check who owns the access, what rights others have over it and what the ground was used for, as part of the free appraisal.

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

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 Cherwell District Council 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.