- Planning authority
- Caerphilly County Borough Council
- Postcodes
- CF46
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- LDP
- County
- Gwent
Before you decide in Nelson, Gwent
With the sun at about 15° at noon on 21 December, and around 38° in late March, low winter light is a real concern for gardens in Nelson. A new home that sits too close or too tall can leave your garden or the one next door in shade for much of the year.
Caerphilly County Borough Council will test this, often against separation distances in its design guidance. Many councils use around 21 metres between facing back windows, though your council’s own guide decides. In a joint venture you see the shading studies before we apply.
How we’d take it forward in Nelson, Gwent
Once you’ve chosen a structure, we draft heads of terms setting out who funds what, your share or the home you receive, deadlines and protections. Your own solicitor reviews them and the development agreement that follows. Only then do we commission surveys and design, agree the key layout points with you, and submit the application to Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Free plot appraisal
We look at your title plan, access, neighbouring homes and the council’s planning policies, then talk through what might be built and whether a joint venture or a simpler sale suits you better.
Choose the structure
We explain the options side by side: a share of sale proceeds, a share of profit, a home back for your land, or a land payment plus a share. You choose what fits your plans and appetite for risk.
Development agreement
Your own solicitor and ours turn the heads of terms into a binding agreement. Your solicitor advises on the security that fits, such as the land staying in your name until a set stage or a legal charge.
Sale or handover
The new homes are sold and the proceeds are split as agreed through the solicitors, or your new home is handed over with its warranty, title and certificates in place.
Worth checking early
- A joint venture takes longer than any sale: planning, then building, then selling or handover.
- Your return isn’t fixed. It depends on build costs, sale prices and timing, unless you choose a structure with a fixed element.
- You’ll live next to a building site, and the new home’s design affects your own house and garden.
Your questions, answered for Nelson, Gwent
Does my land stay in my name during a joint venture in Nelson?
It can. One option keeps the land in your name until an agreed stage, with us building under a licence. Another transfers it earlier with a legal charge in your favour. Your solicitor advises which suits you, bearing in mind that a lender funding the build will want security too.
How long does a garden joint venture in Nelson usually take?
Longer than a sale, because planning, building and selling all happen before you receive your share. The council’s decision time, the build programme and the market drive the timing. We give you a realistic range for each stage after the appraisal rather than a single promised date.
What if the build on my Nelson plot runs late?
The development agreement should set long-stop dates and say which delays are acceptable, such as severe weather, and which aren’t. If a deadline passes without good reason, you should be able to end the agreement. Your solicitor will check your land and share are protected if that happens.
Who decides planning for a joint venture plot in Nelson?
Caerphilly County Borough Council decides, using the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) and national policy in PPW. We prepare and fund the application and deal with the council’s questions, but no developer can promise the outcome. If planning is refused, you keep your land, and in the usual structure the planning costs stay with us.
Other options in Nelson
- Garage courts and yards
- Build a new home in your garden
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Plot feasibility and design
- Sell subject to planning

