- Planning authority
- Sunderland City Council
- Postcodes
- NE37, NE38
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 35°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 7.1 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Tyne and Wear
Washington: light, access and policy
As the neighbour, you’ll live with the new home’s shadow. Picture the spring equinox in Washington: at midday the sun climbs to about 35°, and a new home with 5 m eaves shades roughly 7.1 m of ground behind it. Near the winter solstice, with the sun at around 12°, 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 Washington
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 Sunderland City 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.
Planning and build
We fund and manage the planning application, Building Regulations approval and construction, reporting costs and progress to you at agreed points. The council decides the application, and building control checks the work.
Worth checking early
- A joint venture takes longer than any sale: planning, then building, then selling or handover.
- You’ll live next to a building site, and the new home’s design affects your own house and garden.
- We’re a new brand within the S&K Group, so ask for open-book reporting and check every protection in writing.
Questions about garden plots in Washington
Does my land stay in my name during a joint venture in Washington?
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.
Who decides planning for a joint venture plot in Washington?
Sunderland City 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.
Will a joint venture in Washington affect my tax?
It may. Sharing in the development and sale of new homes can be taxed differently from a simple sale of garden land, and Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) or VAT may arise depending on the structure. Take advice from a tax adviser on your own position before you commit.
Can I do a joint venture on my garden in Washington without paying anything?
In the usual structure, yes. You contribute the land, and we fund design, planning, construction and sale. You may still have your own costs, such as tax or your mortgage lender’s charges, so ask your solicitor and tax adviser to go through them before you sign.
Other options in Washington
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Garage courts and yards
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Large rear gardens
- Corner and side plots