- Planning authority
- Caerphilly County Borough Council
- Postcodes
- NP11
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- LDP
- County
- Gwent
Risca: light, access and policy
Before we suggest a combined scheme for homes in NP11, we read what the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) 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.
How we’d take it forward in Risca
To start, send us the addresses of the gardens involved in Risca, 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.
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.
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
- Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.
- Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.
- The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
Risca: questions to ask
Can neighbours in Risca 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.
Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Risca?
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.
Does each Risca 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.
How many neighbours in Risca 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.
Other options in Risca
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Sell part of your garden
- Sell subject to planning
- Corner and side plots
- Build a home for family in your garden