- Planning authority
- Erewash Borough Council
- Postcodes
- DE7
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.6 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Derbyshire
Before you decide in Ilkeston
Every application Erewash Borough 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 Ilkeston 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.
How we’d take it forward in Ilkeston
The first step for a Ilkeston garden is a conversation and a desktop check, at no cost. We then send written heads of terms covering the term, minimum price, cost cap and fee. Once the agreement is signed, we commission surveys and drawings, take pre-application advice from Erewash Borough Council where it helps, and submit the application. Marketing starts only after permission is granted.
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.
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.
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.
Completion and payout
On completion, sale costs, our capped planning costs and our fee come out of the proceeds in the order the agreement sets. The balance is paid to you through your solicitor.
Worth checking early
- You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.
- Planning may be refused. You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, but the months spent can’t be given back.
- You can’t sell the plot to anyone else while the agreement runs, so the term length matters.
Your questions, answered for Ilkeston
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Ilkeston?
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 you look at my garden in Ilkeston 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.
How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Ilkeston?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Erewash Borough 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 Ilkeston?
Erewash Borough 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.
Other options in Ilkeston
- Large rear gardens
- Plot feasibility and design
- Build a new home in your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Sell part of your garden
- Garage courts and yards

