- Planning authority
- Basildon Borough Council
- Postcodes
- CM11, CM12
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Essex
The local picture in Billericay
A combined scheme in Billericay has a wider pool of buyers than a single plot. Once the land has planning, it can be offered to builders and developers working in Billericay and nearby places such as Basildon, Wickford and Brentwood, or further afield, who are often more interested in a site for several homes than in one small plot.
If the neighbours choose a sale with planning, the collaboration agreement sets out how a buyer is agreed. If we buy the site, the price is set by the route chosen. Value depends on location, size, access and the permission Basildon Borough Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.
How we’d take it forward in Billericay
To start, send us the addresses of the gardens involved in Billericay, or just your own if the neighbours haven’t been asked yet. We run a free desk-based check of the titles, access options and planning position, then explain in writing whether a combined scheme looks realistic before anyone talks to the neighbours in detail.
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.
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.
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.
- Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.
- Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.
Your questions, answered for Billericay
What if one neighbour in Billericay 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.
Can neighbours in Billericay 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. Basildon Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.
Who pays for planning on combined gardens in Billericay?
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 Billericay 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 Billericay
- Garage courts and yards
- Sell part of your garden
- Sell subject to planning
- Large rear gardens
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Tandem and landlocked plots