Backland Development
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Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Aberdare

A shared access road is often what makes backland homes possible in Aberdare. 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 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council covers the whole site at once rather than plot by plot.

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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
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Postcodes
CF44
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
LDP
County
Mid Glamorgan

How it plays out in Aberdare

A combined scheme in Aberdare 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 Aberdare and nearby places such as Mountain Ash, Rhondda and Merthyr Tydfil, 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 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Aberdare: 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 18.9 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Aberdare 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.

What happens next in Aberdare

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 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council.

  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. 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.

  4. 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

  • Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.
  • Every owner’s mortgage lender, title and covenants have to be dealt with, and one problem can hold up everyone.
  • The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.

Questions about garden plots in Aberdare

How many neighbours in Aberdare 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 Aberdare 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. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.

What if one neighbour in Aberdare changes their mind?

Before signing, they can simply step back, and we see whether the scheme still works without their garden. After signing, the agreements decide what happens, and they usually bind whoever owns the house next. Your solicitor will check those clauses carefully.

Who gets more if one garden in Aberdare 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.

Other options in Aberdare

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Aberdare

Find out what your garden could become

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