Backland Development
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Planning promotion for garden plots in Colchester

Planning promotion isn’t the right answer for every garden in Colchester, and we’d rather say so at the outset than after months of work. It is more usual on larger sites, because part of the cost of surveys, legal work and marketing is fixed whether the plot takes one home or several.

Where it fits, the deal is simple to describe. We fund the application, the plot is sold with permission, and we’re paid from the sale, after recovering what we spent on planning up to the agreed limit. You pay nothing at the start. Where it doesn’t fit, we’ll explain the other routes, from an outright sale to a joint venture, and leave the choice with you.

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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
Colchester City Council
Postcodes
CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.4 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Essex

What the council will look at in Colchester

Shadow and distance are often why a combined site in Colchester works better than a single garden. With the sun at about 38° at noon in late March, the shadow from a 5 m eaves line reaches roughly 6.4 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. Colchester City Council still makes the decision.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Colchester: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.4 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 19.1 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Colchester: around 38° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° at midwinter. It shows why the gap between your house and a new home behind it is about light as well as privacy. Garden assumed to face north.

What happens next in Colchester

Here’s what happens after you contact us about a garden in Colchester. 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. 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.

  4. 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 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.
  • Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.

Questions about garden plots in Colchester

How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Colchester?

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

Does a mortgage on my Colchester 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 Colchester 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.

Can you look at my garden in Colchester 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 Colchester

Planning promotion near Colchester

Find out what your garden could become

Free garden plot appraisal. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer if it won’t work.

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