Backland Development
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Planning promotion for garden plots in Runcorn

We’re a new brand within the S&K Group, and planning promotion is one of several routes we offer garden owners in Runcorn and across Cheshire. It suits owners who want the plot sold with permission, can wait for planning and a sale, and would rather not fund the application themselves.

You keep your house throughout. We prepare and submit the application to Halton Borough Council, and after permission the plot is marketed through an agreed agent. When the sale completes, sale costs, our planning costs within the agreed limit and our fee are deducted, and the rest is yours. We also pay your solicitor’s reasonable charges for the agreement, within a limit written into the heads of terms.

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White architectural model of a house at the front of a plot with two new homes at the end of the garden
Planning authority
Halton Borough Council
Postcodes
WA7
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.7 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Cheshire

How it plays out in Runcorn

Shadow and distance are often why a combined site in Runcorn works better than a single garden. With the sun at about 37° at noon in late March, the shadow from a 5 m eaves line reaches roughly 6.7 m, so a home squeezed into one narrow garden can end up too close to the houses it backs onto.

Joining gardens with neighbours lets new homes sit towards the middle of a wider site, away from existing windows, with one shared access. Promotion suits that kind of scheme, because planning costs are spread across more land and the site is sold as one well-planned whole. Halton Borough Council still makes the decision.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Runcorn: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.7 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 21.3 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Runcorn: around 37° of sun at midday in late March and about 13° 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.

The next steps, locally

From first call to completion, a promotion in Runcorn runs in clear stages: free appraisal, heads of terms, agreement, planning application, marketing and sale. You decide at the points that matter most, signing the agreement, setting the minimum price and approving the buyer. Timing depends on the council’s workload, any extra reports it asks for and the buyer’s solicitors, so we give a realistic range rather than a promise.

  1. Free plot appraisal

    We check your title plan, access, the surrounding gardens and the policies in the council’s Local Plan as a desktop exercise, then talk it through with you. If it looks viable, we visit. No cost and no obligation.

  2. Heads of terms

    We set out the deal in writing: the term, how our fee works, the cap on planning costs we can recover, the minimum price, the marketing approach and the cap on your reasonable legal fees that we cover.

  3. Agreement signed

    Your solicitor and ours turn the heads of terms into a promotion agreement. It’s usually protected by an entry on your title, and if your house is mortgaged, your lender is asked to consent early.

  4. We apply for planning

    We commission the surveys and drawings, take pre-application advice where it helps, submit the application and deal with the council’s questions. You pay nothing at this stage, and the decision is the council’s.

Worth checking early

  • Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.
  • You can’t sell the plot to anyone else while the agreement runs, so the term length matters.
  • The plot’s price isn’t known until it’s marketed with permission; it depends on location, size, access and the permission itself.

Runcorn: questions to ask

Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Runcorn?

No. We fund the surveys, drawings and planning fees. Those costs are recovered from the sale proceeds, within a cap set in the heads of terms, only if a sale with planning happens. Your reasonable legal fees for the agreement are also covered up to an agreed cap.

Can neighbours in Runcorn combine gardens for a planning promotion?

Yes, and promotion often works better that way. Adjoining gardens can share one access and allow a better layout. Each owner keeps their house, signs an agreement setting out how proceeds are shared, and takes advice from their own solicitor. We can appraise the combined land as one site first.

Does a mortgage on my Runcorn home stop a planning promotion?

No, but your lender has to be involved. The lender’s charge covers the garden, so it must agree to release the plot before it’s sold, and some lenders want to approve the promotion agreement too. We raise this at the start so it doesn’t delay a sale later.

Can you look at my garden in Runcorn before I commit to anything?

Yes. The plot appraisal is free and carries no obligation. We start with a desktop check of your title, access and the planning policies that apply, then talk it through with you. If the plot looks viable, we arrange a site visit before any heads of terms are drafted.

Other options in Runcorn

Planning promotion near Runcorn

Find out what your garden could become

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

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