- Planning authority
- Rochdale Borough Council
- Postcodes
- OL10, OL11
- 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 shapes a plot in Heywood
Before we suggest a combined scheme for homes in OL10 and OL11, 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.
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 Rochdale Borough Council.
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.
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.
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.
Worth checking early
- Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.
- The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
- Every owner’s mortgage lender, title and covenants have to be dealt with, and one problem can hold up everyone.
Heywood: questions to ask
Will Rochdale Borough Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Heywood?
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.
Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Heywood?
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.
How many neighbours in Heywood 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.
Can neighbours in Heywood 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. Rochdale Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.
Other options in Heywood
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Garden plot option agreement
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Garage courts and yards
- Build a new home in your garden
- Sell part of your garden