Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Driffield

Talking to the neighbours is usually the first hurdle in Driffield, not planning. Some owners are keen, some need time, and some will never want to take part. A combined scheme only needs the gardens that make a workable site, and the one that provides the access matters most.

We can help with that conversation if you’d like, explaining the scheme and the routes plainly to everyone. We never approach your neighbours without your agreement. Each owner keeps their house, signs nothing until they’ve had their own legal advice, and can decide not to take part.

Aerial view of a row of semi-detached houses whose garden ends have been combined into one plot with a new access
Planning authority
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Postcodes
YO25
Noon sun, 21 March
About 36°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.9 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
East Riding of Yorkshire

What the council will look at in Driffield

Before we suggest a combined scheme for homes in YO25, we read what the council’s Local Plan says about garden land, design and parking, and we look at past decisions on similar sites nearby. Those tell us how the council has treated backland schemes before.

If policy points against building behind the houses, combining gardens won’t change that, and we’ll say so. If it supports well-designed schemes with proper access, a combined site is often the best way to meet that standard.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Driffield: about 36 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 36°, shadow 6.9 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 22.5 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Driffield: around 36° of sun at midday in late March and about 13° at midwinter. It shows why the gap between your house and a new home behind it is about light as well as privacy. Garden assumed to face north.

From first call to decision

Once the group is interested, we meet the owners, together or one by one, and set out the routes and how equalisation would work. Heads of terms follow. Each owner’s own solicitor reviews the collaboration agreement and the sale, option or promotion documents, and lenders are asked to consent early. Then the single application goes to East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

  1. 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.

  2. Meet the neighbours

    We meet the owners together or separately, explain how the scheme and the routes work, and answer questions. We don’t approach your neighbours without your agreement, and nobody is committed at this stage.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  • Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.
  • 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.

Questions about garden plots in Driffield

Who pays for planning on combined gardens in Driffield?

It depends on the route. On a sale subject to planning, we normally fund the application. On planning promotion, nothing is paid upfront and costs are recovered from the proceeds only if a sale with planning happens. On an outright sale, we buy the land as it stands.

Does each Driffield 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.

What if one neighbour in Driffield changes their mind?

Before signing, they can simply step back, and we see whether the scheme still works without their garden. After signing, the agreements decide what happens, and they usually bind whoever owns the house next. Your solicitor will check those clauses carefully.

Who gets more if one garden in Driffield provides the access?

Usually the owner of the access garden receives an extra agreed share, because their land makes the scheme possible and their house is most affected by passing cars. The exact method is agreed by everyone in the collaboration agreement before planning starts.

Other options in Driffield

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Driffield

Find out what your garden could become

Free garden plot appraisal. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer if it won’t work.