Backland Development
0800 088 6248Free to call Free plot appraisal

Garden plot option agreements in Longfield

Choosing between an option, an outright sale and a sale subject to planning on a Longfield garden comes down to certainty and time. An outright sale is quickest. A conditional contract binds both sides from exchange. An option gives us the right but not the duty to buy, which is why it suits plots where planning is genuinely uncertain.

Our free appraisal compares the routes for your plot specifically, looking at access, the title and the planning history of your street. If an option isn’t the best fit, we’ll say so, and explain which route would serve you better and why.

Get a free appraisalCheck my garden
Legal agreement, pen and a title plan with a garden plot outlined in red on a desk
Planning authority
Dartford Borough Council
Postcodes
DA3
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Kent

The local picture in Longfield

During an option on a Longfield plot, most of the work happens with Dartford Borough Council, testing the scheme against the council’s Local Plan. We usually start with pre-application advice where it is offered, then commission surveys, prepare the drawings and submit the application, keeping you informed at each step.

The new home must meet the Building Regulations as well as planning, so the design allows from the start for bin collection distances and for fire engine access (or other measures, often sprinklers, agreed with building control and the fire service where a fire engine can’t get close enough). If the council refuses, the agreement says whether we revise, reapply or appeal within the option period.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Longfield: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.5 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Longfield: around 39° 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 Longfield

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. 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.

  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

  • With a market value formula, the final price isn’t known until the option is exercised.
  • Options have their own Capital Gains Tax treatment, so take advice from a tax adviser before signing.
  • We have the right to buy, not a duty, so a sale isn’t certain even after a long wait.

Questions about garden plots in Longfield

Who decides planning on an option plot in Longfield?

The decision belongs to Dartford 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 Longfield 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.

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

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.

Could my neighbours in Longfield 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 Dartford Borough Council is more likely to approve.

Other options in Longfield

Option agreement near Longfield

Find out what your garden could become

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

Get my free appraisal 0800 088 6248