What it costs you to sell or partner
| Item | Who pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Garden plot appraisal | Free | Desktop check and a conversation; a site visit if the plot looks viable. |
| Your solicitor on an outright or subject-to-planning sale | Agreed in heads of terms | Set out in writing before you instruct anyone. |
| Your solicitor on an option or promotion agreement | Us, within a cap | Reasonable legal fees covered; the cap is agreed in heads of terms. |
| Planning costs on promotion | Nothing upfront | Recovered from the sale proceeds only if a sale with planning happens, within limits set in heads of terms. |
| Planning costs on a subject-to-planning sale | Normally us | Any cost recovery is agreed in heads of terms before you sign. If planning is refused, you keep your land. |
| Mortgage lender’s release of the plot | Depends on your lender | Some lenders charge an admin fee to release part of a property from their charge. |
| Tax | Depends on your position | Read tax when you sell part of your garden and take advice from a tax adviser. |
Guide build costs for a new home in your garden
These are guide ranges for the build itself — the house, from foundations to finishes — based on published market rates for one-off new homes in 2026. They are not quotes. Your written quote follows design and a site survey.
| Home | Typical size | Standard specification | Higher specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom single-storey home | about 55 m² | £140,000–£165,000 | £165,000–£250,000 |
| Two-bedroom home | about 75 m² | £190,000–£225,000 | £225,000–£340,000 |
| Three-bedroom home | about 100 m² | £250,000–£300,000 | £300,000–£450,000 |
| Four-bedroom home | about 140 m² | £350,000–£420,000 | £420,000–£630,000 |
Worked from published 2026 market rates for one-off homes built by a contractor: about £2,500–£3,000 per m² for a standard specification and £3,000–£4,500 per m² for a higher one, rounded to the nearest £5,000. They cover the house itself and exclude design and survey fees, planning and CIL, utility connections, the drive and other external works, and a contingency. New homes are normally zero-rated for VAT. Expect the top of the range or above in London and the South East and on garden plots with tight access, slopes or poor ground.
Other costs to budget for when you build
- Design and surveys: measured survey, architectural design, structural engineering, and any tree, ecology, drainage or flood reports the council needs. Published guides put a full design service at around 7–15% of the build cost.
- Planning application fee: in England £610 per new home for a full application (national fee from 1 April 2026, rising each April); in Wales £667 per new home (from 1 December 2025). Pre-application advice is charged separately by most councils.
- Community Infrastructure Levy: charged per square metre in councils that have adopted it. A self-build exemption exists but must be claimed before work starts.
- Utility connections: water, sewer, electricity and broadband are quoted by each provider for your site, and can vary a lot.
- The access: building or upgrading the drive, with drainage, edging and lighting where needed.
- Building control and a structural warranty: buyers’ mortgage lenders usually expect a 10-year new-home warranty, or for some lenders an architect’s or surveyor’s certificate.
- Abnormal costs: poor ground, tree roots, slopes, sewers to divert or contamination on old yards.
- Contingency: most guides suggest keeping 10–15% of the build cost back for the unexpected.
- VAT: building a new home is normally zero-rated, so VAT isn’t usually added to the build of a new dwelling. An annexe tied to the main house can be treated differently.