Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Telford

Helping neighbours in Telford 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.

Aerial view of a row of semi-detached houses whose garden ends have been combined into one plot with a new access
Planning authority
Telford and Wrekin Council
Postcodes
TF2, TF3, TF4, TF7, TF8
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.6 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Shropshire

The local picture in Telford

Before we suggest a combined scheme for homes in TF2, TF3, TF4 and TF7, we read what the council’s Local Plan 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.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Telford: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 14 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.6 m21 Dec, noon: sun 14°, shadow 20.2 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Telford on 21 March sits about 37° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.6 m. In December the sun is only about 14° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

From first call to decision

To start, send us the addresses of the gardens involved in Telford, 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.

  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.
  • Every owner’s mortgage lender, title and covenants have to be dealt with, and one problem can hold up everyone.
  • Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.

Your questions, answered for Telford

Will Telford and Wrekin Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Telford?

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.

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

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.

How many neighbours in Telford 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.

Does each Telford 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 Telford

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Telford

Find out what your garden could become

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