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What to know in Hertfordshire
The garden plots that suit promotion best in Hertfordshire are often not single gardens but two or three adjoining ones put together. A combined site can carry one well-designed shared access instead of a narrow drive squeezed past a house, and the larger scheme spreads the fixed costs of surveys, drawings, legal work and marketing. If you and your neighbours are thinking along those lines, we can appraise the land as one site and explain how proceeds could be shared fairly before anyone commits.
Planning authorities covering Hertfordshire include Broxbourne Borough Council, Dacorum Borough Council, East Hertfordshire District Council, Hertsmere Borough Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, St Albans City and District Council, Stevenage Borough Council, Three Rivers District Council, Watford Borough Council, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.
How it works
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.
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.
Planning promotion in towns across Hertfordshire
- Watford
- Hemel Hempstead
- Stevenage
- St Albans
- Welwyn Garden City
- Cheshunt
- Hatfield
- Bishop's Stortford
- Borehamwood
- Hitchin
- Hoddesdon
- Letchworth Garden City
- Harpenden
- Bushey
- Hertford
- Rickmansworth
- Potters Bar
- Berkhamsted
- Ware
- Royston
Questions about planning promotion in Hertfordshire
What does planning promotion cost a garden owner in Hertfordshire?
Nothing upfront. We pay for surveys, drawings and planning fees, and recover them from the sale proceeds, within an agreed cap, only if a sale with planning happens. Our fee also comes from the proceeds, on a basis agreed in writing. Your reasonable legal fees for the agreement are covered up to a cap in the heads of terms.
How long does a planning promotion usually take in Hertfordshire?
Longer than selling the land as it stands. Surveys and design often take a few months, the council then needs time to decide, and marketing and conveyancing follow. Council workload, requests for extra reports and any appeal drive the timing, so we give a realistic range after the appraisal rather than a promise.
Can neighbours combine gardens for planning promotion in Hertfordshire?
Yes. Combining adjoining gardens often gives a better layout and one shared access, and it suits promotion well. Each owner keeps their house and needs their own solicitor, and a collaboration agreement sets out how proceeds are shared, including fair treatment for the garden that provides the access.
How much is a garden plot in Hertfordshire worth?
It depends on location, size, access, title and, above all, planning. Two similar gardens in the same street can be worth very different amounts if one has easy access and the other doesn’t. We don’t quote figures before we’ve looked at a plot properly; the free appraisal is the way to find out.