- Planning authority
- Vale of Glamorgan Council
- Postcodes
- CF64
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- LDP
- County
- South Glamorgan
Before you decide in Penarth
Before we suggest a combined scheme for homes in CF64, we read what the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) 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.
The next steps, locally
To start, send us the addresses of the gardens involved in Penarth, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- If the garden providing the access drops out before signing, the whole scheme may not work.
- Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.
Penarth: questions to ask
Who pays for planning on combined gardens in Penarth?
It depends on the route. On a sale subject to planning, we normally fund the application. On planning promotion, nothing is paid upfront and costs are recovered from the proceeds only if a sale with planning happens. On an outright sale, we buy the land as it stands.
Do we each need a solicitor for a combined scheme in Penarth?
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 Penarth 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 Penarth 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.
Other options in Penarth
- Bungalows on large plots
- Build a new home in your garden
- Sell subject to planning
- Corner and side plots
- Garden plot option agreement
- Tandem and landlocked plots