Combine back gardens with your neighbours in Aldridge

A shared access road is often what makes backland homes possible in Aldridge. 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 Walsall Metropolitan Borough 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
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Postcodes
WS8, WS9
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.5 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
West Midlands

Before you decide in Aldridge

Back gardens in WS8 and WS9, as anywhere, tend to be divided by fences, hedges and the odd tree, and a combined scheme has to work with all of them. Old boundary hedges may be habitat worth keeping, and mature trees may need an assessment before anything is designed.

We map these features across all the gardens at once, so the layout keeps what matters and the application to Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council shows how trees and wildlife have been considered. Doing it across the whole site is simpler and cheaper than doing it garden by garden.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Aldridge: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 14 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.5 m21 Dec, noon: sun 14°, shadow 20.1 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Aldridge: around 37° of sun at midday in late March and about 14° 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.

The next steps, locally

Nothing happens without every owner’s agreement. If you’re in Aldridge 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. 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.

  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.
  • Tax depends on each owner’s circumstances, so each should take advice from a tax adviser.

Questions about garden plots in Aldridge

Will Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council prefer a combined scheme to single plots in Aldridge?

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.

Can neighbours in Aldridge 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. Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council decides any planning application on its merits.

Does each Aldridge 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.

Who gets more if one garden in Aldridge provides the access?

Usually the owner of the access garden receives an extra agreed share, because their land makes the scheme possible and their house is most affected by passing cars. The exact method is agreed by everyone in the collaboration agreement before planning starts.

Other options in Aldridge

Combine neighbours’ gardens near Aldridge

Find out what your garden could become

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