- Planning authority
- Salford City Council
- Postcodes
- M30
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.8 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Greater Manchester
Eccles: light, access and policy
At noon on 21 March the sun over Eccles sits about 37° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.8 m. By 21 December, with the sun at about 13°, that shadow is far longer. Salford City Council 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.
How we’d take it forward in Eccles
From first call to completion, a promotion in Eccles runs in clear stages: free appraisal, heads of terms, agreement, planning application, marketing and sale. You decide at the points that matter most, signing the agreement, setting the minimum price and approving the buyer. Timing depends on the council’s workload, any extra reports it asks for and the buyer’s solicitors, so we give a realistic range rather than a promise.
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.
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.
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
- Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.
- Planning may be refused. You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, but the months spent can’t be given back.
- On a single small plot, fixed costs and our fee take a bigger share of the sale price than on a larger site.
Questions about garden plots in Eccles
How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Eccles?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Salford 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.
Is planning promotion available for a single garden in Eccles?
Yes, if the plot is suitable, though promotion is more usual on larger sites. On one modest garden, the fixed costs of planning, legal work and marketing take a bigger share of the sale. After the free appraisal we’ll tell you whether promotion, a sale subject to planning or an option suits your garden best.
Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Eccles?
Salford City 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.
Can neighbours in Eccles combine gardens for a planning promotion?
Yes, and promotion often works better that way. Adjoining gardens can share one access and allow a better layout. Each owner keeps their house, signs an agreement setting out how proceeds are shared, and takes advice from their own solicitor. We can appraise the combined land as one site first.
Other options in Eccles
- Sell part of your garden
- Build a new home in your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Plot feasibility and design
- Build a home for family in your garden

