Backland Development
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Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Tunbridge Wells

Helping neighbours in Tunbridge Wells combine their gardens is one of the routes offered by Backland Development, a new brand within the S&K Group. It suits streets where the land behind the houses is generous but access is limited, and where the neighbours would rather share one good scheme than compete with several poor ones.

We appraise the combined land, meet the owners if they want us to, and set out the routes: a sale, a sale subject to planning, an option, promotion or a joint venture. The collaboration agreement then ties it all together, and each owner’s solicitor checks it before anyone signs.

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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
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Postcodes
TN1, TN2, TN4
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.2 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Kent

What the council will look at in Tunbridge Wells

A combined scheme in Tunbridge Wells 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 Tunbridge Wells and nearby places such as Tonbridge, Crowborough and Sevenoaks, 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 Tunbridge Wells Borough Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Tunbridge Wells: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.2 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.1 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Tunbridge Wells: around 39° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° 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.

From first call to decision

The steps for neighbours in Tunbridge Wells 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. 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.

  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

  • 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.
  • Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.

Your questions, answered for Tunbridge Wells

Will Tunbridge Wells Borough Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Tunbridge Wells?

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 gets more if one garden in Tunbridge Wells 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.

Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Tunbridge Wells?

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 Tunbridge Wells 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 Tunbridge Wells

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Tunbridge Wells

Find out what your garden could become

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