- Planning authority
- Bristol City Council
- Postcodes
- BS9
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Bristol
What the council will look at in Henleaze
At noon on 21 March the sun over Henleaze sits about 39° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. By 21 December, with the sun at about 15°, that shadow is far longer. Bristol City Council will weigh how a new home affects daylight and sunlight to your house and the gardens next door.
Under promotion we test this before applying, because a refusal on overshadowing costs time even though it doesn’t cost you money. Moving the new home, lowering the eaves or turning the roof can make the difference.
What happens next in Henleaze
Nothing is signed until you’ve seen the heads of terms and taken advice. Call us or use the form with your Henleaze address, a rough idea of where the garden runs, and whether neighbours might join in. We’ll check the title, access and planning history first, then tell you plainly whether promotion, a sale subject to planning or another route suits your plot.
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.
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.
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.
Marketing and sale
With permission granted, the plot is marketed as the agreement sets out. You see the offers and approve the buyer, and the plot can’t be sold below the minimum price without your written consent.
Worth checking early
- Planning may be refused. You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, but the months spent can’t be given back.
- You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.
- You can’t sell the plot to anyone else while the agreement runs, so the term length matters.
Your questions, answered for Henleaze
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Henleaze?
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.
Does a mortgage on my Henleaze 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.
How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Henleaze?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Bristol City Council needs time to decide, and marketing and conveyancing follow. The council’s workload, extra reports and any appeal drive the timing, so we give a realistic range after the appraisal.
Can neighbours in Henleaze 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.
Other options in Henleaze
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Garage courts and yards
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Sell part of your garden
- Plot feasibility and design