- Planning authority
- Rother District Council
- Postcodes
- TN39, TN40
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.1 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- East Sussex
Before you decide in Bexhill-on-Sea
On many backland plots, access matters more than size. A long garden in Bexhill-on-Sea may have no route to the road wide enough for cars, bins and emergency vehicles, and Rother District Council will look closely at the effect of a new drive on the homes either side of it.
For homes in TN39 and TN40 we look at access first: the width beside the house, visibility at the pavement, and whether a strip of land owned by someone else sits in the way. If access only works by joining with a neighbour, we’ll say so, and promoting the combined site may be the better route.
The next steps, locally
The first step for a Bexhill-on-Sea 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 Rother District 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.
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 can’t sell the plot to anyone else while the agreement runs, so the term length matters.
- You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.
- Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.
Your questions, answered for Bexhill-on-Sea
Does a mortgage on my Bexhill-on-Sea 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 is a promoted garden plot in Bexhill-on-Sea 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.
Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Bexhill-on-Sea?
Rother District 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.
How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Bexhill-on-Sea?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Rother District 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.
Other options in Bexhill-on-Sea
- Sell subject to planning
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Corner and side plots
- Plot feasibility and design
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Garden plot option agreement

