- Planning authority
- London Borough of Hounslow
- Postcodes
- TW3, TW4, TW5, TW7, TW13
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Greater London
What shapes a plot in Hounslow
At noon on 21 March the sun over Hounslow sits about 39° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.3 m. By 21 December, with the sun at about 15°, that shadow is far longer. The London Borough of Hounslow will weigh how a new home affects daylight and sunlight to your house and the gardens next door.
Under promotion we test this before applying, because a refusal on overshadowing costs time even though it doesn’t cost you money. Moving the new home, lowering the eaves or turning the roof can make the difference.
What happens next in Hounslow
Here’s what happens after you contact us about a garden in Hounslow. 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.
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.
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.
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
- On a single small plot, fixed costs and our fee take a bigger share of the sale price than on a larger site.
- 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.
Hounslow: questions to ask
Does a mortgage on my Hounslow 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.
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Hounslow?
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.
What happens if planning is refused for my garden in Hounslow?
You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, because our costs are only recovered from a sale with planning. Within the term we may revise the scheme and reapply, or appeal if the grounds are strong. If there’s no realistic route to permission, the agreement ends.
Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Hounslow?
The London Borough of Hounslow 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 Hounslow
- Sell part of your garden
- Garage courts and yards
- Large rear gardens
- Build a new home in your garden
- Bungalows on large plots
- Joint venture on your garden plot