- Planning authority
- Buckinghamshire Council
- Postcodes
- HP6, HP7
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Buckinghamshire
Amersham: light, access and policy
Overlooking decides many garden schemes in Amersham. With the noon sun at about 38° in late March, when a 5 m eaves line casts shade around 6.3 m deep, and with back windows facing in several directions, space matters.
On a combined site there’s room to turn the new homes, use single-storey elements near boundaries, and keep upstairs windows away from neighbours. Many councils use separation guides of around 21 metres between facing back windows, and around 12 to 15 metres from a back window to a blank side wall. Buckinghamshire Council’s own guide decides.
How we’d take it forward in Amersham
Nothing happens without every owner’s agreement. If you’re in Amersham and think the gardens on your side of the street could work together, call us or use the form. We’ll look at the land first, tell you plainly whether it’s worth pursuing, and only then discuss approaching the other owners, with your say-so and in the way you prefer.
Free appraisal of the combined land
We look at all the titles together, the possible access points, the surrounding homes and the planning policies that apply, then explain whether a combined scheme looks realistic and roughly what it might allow.
Agree how value is shared
Heads of terms set out the route, each owner’s share, any extra for the garden providing the access, what happens if someone drops out, and the cap on each owner’s reasonable legal fees where it applies.
One planning application
We prepare and submit a single application for the whole site, with one shared access and a layout designed around all the existing homes. The council decides it, and nobody can promise the result.
Completion and shares paid
When the site is sold with planning, or bought by us as agreed, each owner transfers their part, and the proceeds are divided through the solicitors exactly as the collaboration agreement sets out.
Worth checking early
- Every owner’s mortgage lender, title and covenants have to be dealt with, and one problem can hold up everyone.
- Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.
- The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
Questions about garden plots in Amersham
How many neighbours in Amersham need to take part?
As few as two can be enough. What matters is that the gardens taking part make a workable site and that one of them provides access to the road. We tell you which gardens are essential and which would simply improve the scheme.
Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Amersham?
Yes. Each owner has different interests, a different title and possibly a mortgage, so each needs independent advice. On option and promotion agreements we cover each owner’s reasonable legal fees up to the cap agreed in the heads of terms.
Can neighbours in Amersham combine their back gardens for new homes?
Yes, where the gardens adjoin and there’s a workable access. Each owner keeps their house, the land behind is planned as one site, and a collaboration agreement sets out how the value is shared. Buckinghamshire Council decides any planning application on its merits.
Does each Amersham owner keep their own house and garden?
Yes. Each owner keeps their house and an agreed garden for it. Only the land behind is transferred, as a transfer of part at HM Land Registry. New boundaries and fencing for each house are agreed as part of the design.
Other options in Amersham
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Corner and side plots
- Garden plot option agreement
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Sell part of your garden