- Planning authority
- North Hertfordshire District Council
- Postcodes
- SG4, SG5
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.4 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Hertfordshire
How it plays out in Hitchin
As the neighbour, you’ll live with the new home’s shadow. Picture the spring equinox in Hitchin: at midday the sun climbs to about 38°, and a new home with 5 m eaves shades roughly 6.4 m of ground behind it. Near the winter solstice, with the sun at around 15°, that shade stretches much further.
In a joint venture you approve the layout before the application goes in, so we can show you where the shadow will fall on your garden at different times of year. Keeping the eaves low or setting the home further back can make a real difference.
How we’d take it forward in Hitchin
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 North Hertfordshire District 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.
Heads of terms
The key terms go in writing: who funds what, your share or the home you receive, how your land is protected, deadlines, open-book reporting and what happens if planning is refused or the build stalls.
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
- We’re a new brand within the S&K Group, so ask for open-book reporting and check every protection in writing.
- A joint venture takes longer than any sale: planning, then building, then selling or handover.
- Development lenders usually want security over the land, which your solicitor needs to fit around your own protections.
Your questions, answered for Hitchin
Who decides planning for a joint venture plot in Hitchin?
North Hertfordshire District Council decides, using the council’s Local Plan and national policy in the NPPF. 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.
Does my land stay in my name during a joint venture in Hitchin?
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.
What if the build on my Hitchin 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.
Can my neighbours join a joint venture in Hitchin?
Yes. Combining adjoining gardens can give a better layout and one shared access. Each owner keeps their house, has their own solicitor and signs up to a collaboration agreement setting out how the result is shared, including fair treatment for the garden that provides the access.
Other options in Hitchin
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Garage courts and yards
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Corner and side plots
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Build a new home in your garden