Backland development in Dorking

If your house in Dorking 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 Dorking and nearby places such as Leatherhead, Reigate and Redhill 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 Mole Valley District Council, so we never promise an outcome.

Planning authority
Mole Valley District Council
Postcodes
RH4
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Noon sun, 21 December
About 15°
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Surrey

The kinds of plot we look at in Dorking

Not every plot we consider is a garden. Garage courts, lock-up blocks, old workshops and yards behind houses in Dorking can sometimes take a new home, particularly where a vehicle access already exists. These sites raise their own questions, such as who owns the access, whether anyone else has rights over it and what the ground was used for before. Alongside them, we consider long back gardens, wide side gardens, corner plots and bungalows on large plots, each judged on its own access, space and planning position.

Planning and light in Dorking

Daylight is one of the first things Mole Valley District Council will look at on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Dorking 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 Dorking: 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 18.2 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Dorking: 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 Dorking

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 Dorking, 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 Dorking

Can I team up with my neighbours in Dorking?

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.

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

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 Mole Valley 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.

Do you look at garage courts and yards in Dorking?

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.

Can I sell part of my garden in Dorking?

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

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.