- Planning authority
- BCP Council
- Postcodes
- BH1, BH2, BH3, BH4, BH5
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.1 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Dorset
Before you decide in Bournemouth
Shadow and distance are often why a combined site in Bournemouth works better than a single garden. With the sun at about 39° at noon in late March, the shadow from a 5 m eaves line reaches roughly 6.1 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. BCP Council still makes the decision.
How we’d take it forward in Bournemouth
Nothing is signed until you’ve seen the heads of terms and taken advice. Call us or use the form with your Bournemouth 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.
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.
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
- 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.
- Planning may be refused. You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, but the months spent can’t be given back.
Questions about garden plots in Bournemouth
How is a promoted garden plot in Bournemouth sold?
After permission, an agent agreed with you markets the plot to builders, developers and self-builders. You see the offers and approve the buyer. The plot can’t be sold below the agreed minimum price without your written consent, and any offer from us has to stand up against the open market.
Does a mortgage on my Bournemouth 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 Bournemouth?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then BCP 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.
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Bournemouth?
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.
Other options in Bournemouth
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Garage courts and yards
- Corner and side plots
- Build a new home in your garden
- Sell part of your garden
- Garden plot option agreement