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Garden plot option agreements in Brentwood

If your garden in Brentwood has potential but the route to planning isn’t simple, an option may be the most honest arrangement. It recognises that we need time, perhaps to secure access, bring in a neighbour’s land or work through the council’s Local Plan, and that you shouldn’t be asked to sell before that work is done.

You grant the right; we take on the cost and effort of planning. When an acceptable permission is in place, we can buy at the price the agreement sets, usually through a formula with a minimum underneath. Until then, nothing changes hands, and your reasonable legal fees are covered within an agreed cap.

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Legal agreement, pen and a title plan with a garden plot outlined in red on a desk
Planning authority
Brentwood Borough Council
Postcodes
CM13, CM14, CM15
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Essex

Before you decide in Brentwood

Any option agreement on a Brentwood garden is shaped by the council’s Local Plan. If Brentwood Borough Council’s current policies clearly support a new home on your plot, an option probably isn’t needed and a simpler route will serve you better. Where the policy position is balanced, or a review of the plan is under way, an option gives time for the planning case to be made properly. We read the relevant policies and recent decisions on similar plots before suggesting an option, and we explain what we found.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Brentwood: 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 18.7 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Brentwood: 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.

How we’d take it forward in Brentwood

After your enquiry, we carry out the free appraisal and compare an option with an outright sale and a conditional contract for your plot. If you choose the option, your solicitor reviews the agreement before signing, and once it is in place we start the planning work, share the drawings before submission and keep you updated.

  1. Free plot appraisal

    We look at your title, the access, the planning history and the policies that apply, then tell you honestly whether an option, an outright sale or a conditional contract fits your plot best. It costs you nothing.

  2. Heads of terms

    We set out the option period, the price formula and minimum price, any option fee, our planning obligations and the cap on your reasonable legal fees, which we cover. Nothing is binding at this stage.

  3. Planning work

    We commission surveys, design the scheme and apply for planning, keeping you updated and showing you the drawings before submission. The council decides; if it refuses, the agreement sets out whether we revise, reapply or appeal.

  4. Exercise or lapse

    If an acceptable permission is granted, we serve notice, the price is fixed by the formula and the sale completes in the agreed time. If not, the option lapses, the entry comes off your title and the land stays yours.

Worth checking early

  • Your plot is tied up for the option period and can’t be sold to anyone else meanwhile.
  • Deductions agreed at the start, such as planning costs, reduce what you receive, so check them closely.
  • Options have their own Capital Gains Tax treatment, so take advice from a tax adviser before signing.

Brentwood: questions to ask

Who decides planning on an option plot in Brentwood?

The decision belongs to Brentwood Borough Council, which will weigh the scheme against the council’s Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Our job during the option period is to put in the strongest application the plot allows and answer the council’s questions. The agreement sets out what happens if permission is refused.

Do I pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you exercise an option over my Brentwood plot?

No. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is paid by the buyer of land, so any amount due on completion falls to us. As the seller, you may have Capital Gains Tax to consider, and options have their own rules on timing, so take advice from a tax adviser before signing.

Is an option better than selling my Brentwood garden plot outright?

Not always. An outright sale is quicker and certain once contracts are exchanged. An option suits plots where planning is uncertain or more land is needed, because it gives us time without forcing a guess at the price. Our free appraisal compares the routes for your plot.

Will you cover my legal fees on an option in Brentwood?

Yes. We cover reasonable legal fees for your own solicitor on an option agreement, up to a cap agreed in heads of terms. Choose a solicitor experienced with development land, and agree the cap with us before they begin, so their fees stay within it.

Other options in Brentwood

Option agreement near Brentwood

Find out what your garden could become

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