Backland Development
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Planning promotion for garden plots in Seaham

If you own a long or wide garden in Seaham, planning promotion lets you have the plot sold with planning permission without paying for the application yourself. We fund the surveys, drawings and planning fees, the plot is marketed once permission is granted, and our capped costs and fee come out of the sale proceeds.

You keep your house and approve the buyer. Nothing is paid upfront, and if no sale with planning happens, you owe us nothing for planning. We cover your reasonable legal fees for the agreement up to a cap set in the heads of terms, so your own solicitor can check everything from the start.

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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
Durham County Council
Postcodes
SR7
Noon sun, 21 March
About 35°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 7.1 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
County Durham

Before you decide in Seaham

Every application Durham County Council decides goes on its public planning register, and a refusal stays there. That record doesn’t stop a later application, but the next scheme has to answer the reasons given. It is one reason we prepare a garden plot in Seaham carefully before submitting: measured survey, access check, separation distances, trees and drainage.

We also check the planning history of your house and the gardens near it, and what the council’s Local Plan says about garden land. Past decisions on nearby plots are often the best guide to what the council will accept.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Seaham: about 35 degrees on 21 March and 12 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 35°, shadow 7.1 m21 Dec, noon: sun 12°, shadow 24.1 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Seaham on 21 March sits about 35° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 7.1 m. In December the sun is only about 12° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

From first call to decision

Here’s what happens after you contact us about a garden in Seaham. We start with a free desktop appraisal of your title plan, access and the policies in the council’s Local Plan, then talk it through with you. If it looks viable, we visit. If promotion fits, we send heads of terms, and your solicitor reviews them, with reasonable legal fees covered up to an agreed cap, before anything is signed.

  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. 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

  • You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.
  • On a single small plot, fixed costs and our fee take a bigger share of the sale price than on a larger site.
  • Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.

Your questions, answered for Seaham

Does a mortgage on my Seaham 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 Seaham?

It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Durham County 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.

Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Seaham?

Durham County Council decides it, using the council’s Local Plan and national policy in the NPPF. Nobody can promise the outcome. Under promotion we prepare and submit the application at our cost and deal with the council’s questions, but the decision is the council’s, and it can grant, refuse or ask for changes.

Can you look at my garden in Seaham 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 Seaham

Planning promotion near Seaham

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