- Planning authority
- Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
- Postcodes
- AL6, AL7, AL8
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.4 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Hertfordshire
What shapes a plot in Welwyn Garden City
Shadow is one reason combined gardens in Welwyn Garden City often work better. On 21 March the midday sun reaches roughly 38°, enough for a 5 m eaves line to shade about 6.4 m of ground, and by midwinter, at about 15°, the shade runs much further.
On one narrow garden, a new home can end up close to the houses on every side. On a combined site, the new homes can sit towards the middle, with gardens around them, and the shadows they cast fall mostly on their own land.
What happens next in Welwyn Garden City
To start, send us the addresses of the gardens involved in Welwyn Garden City, 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.
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.
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
- Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.
- 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.
Your questions, answered for Welwyn Garden City
Who gets more if one garden in Welwyn Garden City 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.
Can neighbours in Welwyn Garden City 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. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.
How many neighbours in Welwyn Garden City 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.
Who pays for planning on combined gardens in Welwyn Garden City?
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.
Other options in Welwyn Garden City
- Corner and side plots
- Sell part of your garden
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Garage courts and yards
- Garden plot option agreement
- Plot feasibility and design