- Planning authority
- Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
- Postcodes
- KT17
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Surrey
Ewell: light, access and policy
Any option agreement on a Ewell garden is shaped by the council’s Local Plan. If Epsom and Ewell 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.
How we’d take it forward in Ewell
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
- Your plot is tied up for the option period and can’t be sold to anyone else meanwhile.
- 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.
Your questions, answered for Ewell
Do I pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you exercise an option over my Ewell 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 Ewell?
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.
How long would an option on my Ewell garden last?
The period is agreed at the start and should match the planning task: long enough for surveys, an application and, where sensible, a revised scheme or appeal, but no longer. On a single garden it is usually much shorter than on farmland. Any extension should be tied to specific events.
What happens to my Ewell plot if the option ends?
It stays yours, and the entry on your title is removed. You’re free to keep, sell or develop the land. If a permission was granted before the option ended, it generally stays with the land, though it will need to be started within its time limit.
Other options in Ewell
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Sell part of your garden
- Corner and side plots
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Bungalows on large plots
- Build a home for family in your garden