Backland Development
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Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Bexhill-on-Sea

Talking to the neighbours is usually the first hurdle in Bexhill-on-Sea, 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.

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Aerial view of a row of semi-detached houses whose garden ends have been combined into one plot with a new access
Planning authority
Rother District Council
Postcodes
TN39, TN40
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.1 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
East Sussex

The local picture in Bexhill-on-Sea

Overlooking decides many garden schemes in Bexhill-on-Sea. With the noon sun at about 39° in late March, when a 5 m eaves line casts shade around 6.1 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. Rother District Council’s own guide decides.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Bexhill-on-Sea: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 16 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.1 m21 Dec, noon: sun 16°, shadow 17.8 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Bexhill-on-Sea: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 16° 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.

What happens next in Bexhill-on-Sea

Nothing happens without every owner’s agreement. If you’re in Bexhill-on-Sea 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.

  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. Collaboration agreement

    Each owner’s own solicitor reviews the documents, and everyone signs a collaboration agreement alongside the sale, option or promotion agreement. Mortgage lenders are asked to consent early, and the agreements are usually protected on each title.

  4. 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.

Worth checking early

  • Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.
  • Every owner’s mortgage lender, title and covenants have to be dealt with, and one problem can hold up everyone.
  • Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.

Questions about garden plots in Bexhill-on-Sea

Who gets more if one garden in Bexhill-on-Sea 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.

Can neighbours in Bexhill-on-Sea 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. Rother District Council decides any planning application on its merits.

Does each Bexhill-on-Sea 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.

Will Rother District Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Bexhill-on-Sea?

It often gives the council a better scheme to assess, with one proper access and more space between homes. But every application is judged on its merits against the council’s Local Plan, and the decision is the council’s. We test the layout against its policies before applying.

Other options in Bexhill-on-Sea

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Bexhill-on-Sea

Find out what your garden could become

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