- Planning authority
- Monmouthshire County Council
- Postcodes
- NP25
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.4 m
- Planning plan
- LDP
- County
- Gwent
What the council will look at in Monmouth
Any option agreement on a Monmouth garden is shaped by the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP). If Monmouthshire County 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.
How we’d take it forward in Monmouth
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.
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.
Sign the option
Your solicitor and ours agree the option agreement and the plan of the plot. Once it is signed, the option is noted on your title, and you carry on living in your house and using the garden as normal.
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.
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
- Options have their own Capital Gains Tax treatment, so take advice from a tax adviser before signing.
- Deductions agreed at the start, such as planning costs, reduce what you receive, so check them closely.
- With a market value formula, the final price isn’t known until the option is exercised.
Monmouth: questions to ask
Could my neighbours in Monmouth be part of the same option scheme?
Yes. Where neighbouring gardens together would make a better scheme, each owner can grant an option on their own land, and an agreement between the owners can share the outcome fairly. It needs careful drafting and everyone’s agreement, and it often produces a scheme Monmouthshire County Council is more likely to approve.
Is an option better than selling my Monmouth 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 Monmouth?
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.
Who decides planning on an option plot in Monmouth?
The decision belongs to Monmouthshire County Council, which will weigh the scheme against the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) and Planning Policy Wales (PPW). 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.
Other options in Monmouth
- Bungalows on large plots
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Sell subject to planning
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Build a new home in your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot