Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Ystalyfera

Helping neighbours in Ystalyfera 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
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Postcodes
SA9
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
LDP
County
West Glamorgan

The local picture in Ystalyfera

A combined scheme in Ystalyfera 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 Ystalyfera and nearby places such as Ystradgynlais, Neath and Clydach, 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 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Ystalyfera: 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
This section is worked out for the latitude of Ystalyfera: around 38° 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.

From first call to decision

Nothing happens without every owner’s agreement. If you’re in Ystalyfera 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. 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.
  • The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
  • Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.

Ystalyfera: questions to ask

What if one neighbour in Ystalyfera 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.

Can neighbours in Ystalyfera 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. Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.

Does each Ystalyfera 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 Ystalyfera 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 Ystalyfera

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Ystalyfera

Find out what your garden could become

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