Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Weston-super-Mare

Helping neighbours in Weston-super-Mare 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
North Somerset Council
Postcodes
BS22, BS23, BS24
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Somerset

How it plays out in Weston-super-Mare

Before we suggest a combined scheme for homes in BS22, BS23 and BS24, 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 Weston-super-Mare: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.4 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Weston-super-Mare: 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.

How we’d take it forward in Weston-super-Mare

To start, send us the addresses of the gardens involved in Weston-super-Mare, 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

  • If the garden providing the access drops out before signing, the whole scheme may not work.
  • Several owners have to agree, so a combined scheme usually takes longer to set up than a single plot.
  • Planning is still the council’s decision; a combined scheme is often stronger, but it can still be refused.

Questions about garden plots in Weston-super-Mare

Will North Somerset Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Weston-super-Mare?

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 Weston-super-Mare?

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 Weston-super-Mare 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.

What if one neighbour in Weston-super-Mare 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.

Other options in Weston-super-Mare

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Weston-super-Mare

Find out what your garden could become

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