- Planning authority
- Chichester District Council
- Postcodes
- PO19, PO20
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.1 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- West Sussex
Before you decide in Chichester
A combined scheme in Chichester 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 Chichester and nearby places such as Bognor Regis, Emsworth and Hayling Island, 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 Chichester District Council grants, so we don’t quote figures before an appraisal.
The next steps, locally
Once the group is interested, we meet the owners, together or one by one, and set out the routes and how equalisation would work. Heads of terms follow. Each owner’s own solicitor reviews the collaboration agreement and the sale, option or promotion documents, and lenders are asked to consent early. Then the single application goes to Chichester District Council.
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.
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.
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.
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
- The owner of the access garden will live beside a shared road, which is why that garden often receives an extra share.
- 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.
Your questions, answered for Chichester
Does each Chichester 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 pays for planning on combined gardens in Chichester?
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 Chichester?
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 Chichester 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 Chichester
- Large rear gardens
- Garage courts and yards
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Corner and side plots
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Sell part of your garden