Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Selby

A shared access road is often what makes backland homes possible in Selby. 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 North Yorkshire 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
North Yorkshire Council
Postcodes
YO8
Noon sun, 21 March
About 36°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.8 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
North Yorkshire

Before you decide in Selby

A combined scheme in Selby 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 Selby and nearby places such as Goole, Pontefract and York, 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 North Yorkshire Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Selby: about 36 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 36°, shadow 6.8 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 22.0 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Selby: around 36° of sun at midday in late March and about 13° 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

Nothing happens without every owner’s agreement. If you’re in Selby and think the gardens on your side of the street could work together, call us or use the form. We’ll look at the land first, tell you plainly whether it’s worth pursuing, and only then discuss approaching the other owners, with your say-so and in the way you prefer.

  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. 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.

  3. 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.

  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.
  • The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
  • Every owner’s mortgage lender, title and covenants have to be dealt with, and one problem can hold up everyone.

Questions about garden plots in Selby

Does each Selby 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 Selby 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 Selby 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. North Yorkshire Council decides any planning application on its merits.

Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Selby?

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.

Other options in Selby

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Selby

Find out what your garden could become

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