Planning promotion for garden plots in Borehamwood

Two or three neighbouring back gardens in Borehamwood can make a stronger promotion site than one garden on its own. Put together, they may allow one shared access, a better layout and new homes set further from existing windows, and the fixed costs of the application are spread across a bigger scheme.

That is where promotion is most at home. For a single garden it can still work, particularly if the plot is generous and has its own route in from the road, but we’ll tell you honestly if a sale subject to planning or an option suits your land better. The free appraisal covers that question.

White architectural model of a house at the front of a plot with two new homes at the end of the garden
Planning authority
Hertsmere Borough Council
Postcodes
WD6, WD7
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Hertfordshire

What the council will look at in Borehamwood

Shadow and distance are often why a combined site in Borehamwood 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 6.3 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. Hertsmere Borough Council still makes the decision.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Borehamwood: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.8 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Borehamwood: 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.

How we’d take it forward in Borehamwood

Nothing is signed until you’ve seen the heads of terms and taken advice. Call us or use the form with your Borehamwood address, a rough idea of where the garden runs, and whether neighbours might join in. We’ll check the title, access and planning history first, then tell you plainly whether promotion, a sale subject to planning or another route suits your plot.

  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. 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.

  4. 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.

Worth checking early

  • Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.
  • The plot’s price isn’t known until it’s marketed with permission; it depends on location, size, access and the permission itself.
  • You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.

Your questions, answered for Borehamwood

Can you look at my garden in Borehamwood 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.

Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Borehamwood?

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.

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

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

Other options in Borehamwood

Planning promotion near Borehamwood

Find out what your garden could become

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