Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Blackwood

A shared access road is often what makes backland homes possible in Blackwood. Instead of several narrow drives, one properly designed road with good visibility at the pavement can serve every new home on the combined land, keep cars further from existing windows and give bin lorries and emergency vehicles the room they need.

The household providing that access gives up the most, so an equalisation agreement usually gives them an extra agreed share. Every owner keeps their house and an agreed garden, and the planning application to Caerphilly County Borough Council covers the whole site at once rather than plot by plot.

Aerial view of a row of semi-detached houses whose garden ends have been combined into one plot with a new access
Planning authority
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Postcodes
NP12
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
LDP
County
Gwent

How it plays out in Blackwood

A combined scheme in Blackwood 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 Blackwood and nearby places such as Bargoed, Gelligaer and Abercarn, 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 Caerphilly County Borough Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Blackwood: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.8 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Blackwood on 21 March sits about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. In December the sun is only about 15° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

How we’d take it forward in Blackwood

The steps for neighbours in Blackwood are: free appraisal, a meeting with the owners, heads of terms, signed agreements, one planning application, then completion and payment of each owner’s share. Setting up a group takes longer than a single plot, and timing depends on the owners, the lenders and the council, so we give ranges rather than promises.

  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. 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.

  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

  • Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.
  • If the garden providing the access drops out before signing, the whole scheme may not work.
  • Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.

Questions about garden plots in Blackwood

Will Caerphilly County Borough Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Blackwood?

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 Development Plan (LDP), and the decision is the council’s. We test the layout against its policies before applying.

Can neighbours in Blackwood 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. Caerphilly County Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.

Who gets more if one garden in Blackwood 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.

Does each Blackwood 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 Blackwood

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Blackwood

Find out what your garden could become

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