Backland Development
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Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Farnworth

Neighbours in Farnworth sometimes find that one garden alone is too narrow, too short or too hard to reach, while the land behind several houses together would make a sensible site for new homes. That’s land assembly on a small scale.

We can look at the gardens as one site, show the group what a combined layout might allow, and explain how value is shared fairly through equalisation. Nobody has to commit until they’ve taken their own advice. If a single garden works perfectly well on its own, with its own route to the road, we’ll tell you that too.

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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
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Postcodes
BL3, BL4
Noon sun, 21 March
About 36°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.8 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Greater Manchester

What the council will look at in Farnworth

A combined scheme in Farnworth 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 Farnworth and nearby places such as Walkden, Bolton and Radcliffe, 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 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Farnworth: about 36 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 36°, shadow 6.8 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 21.6 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Farnworth: 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.

How we’d take it forward in Farnworth

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 Bolton Metropolitan Borough 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. 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.

  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

  • 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.
  • If the garden providing the access drops out before signing, the whole scheme may not work.

Your questions, answered for Farnworth

Can neighbours in Farnworth 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. Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.

Will Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Farnworth?

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.

Who pays for planning on combined gardens in Farnworth?

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.

Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Farnworth?

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.

Other options in Farnworth

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Farnworth

Find out what your garden could become

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

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