- Planning authority
- Dartford Borough Council
- Postcodes
- DA1, DA2
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Kent
Dartford: light, access and policy
On many backland plots, access matters more than size. A long garden in Dartford may have no route to the road wide enough for cars, bins and emergency vehicles, and Dartford Borough Council will look closely at the effect of a new drive on the homes either side of it.
For homes in DA1 and DA2 we look at access first: the width beside the house, visibility at the pavement, and whether a strip of land owned by someone else sits in the way. If access only works by joining with a neighbour, we’ll say so, and promoting the combined site may be the better route.
What happens next in Dartford
Here’s what happens after you contact us about a garden in Dartford. 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.
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.
Worth checking early
- The plot’s price isn’t known until it’s marketed with permission; it depends on location, size, access and the permission itself.
- On a single small plot, fixed costs and our fee take a bigger share of the sale price than on a larger site.
- Promotion takes longer than a straight sale: planning, then marketing, then completion, and each stage can run on.
Questions about garden plots in Dartford
Is planning promotion available for a single garden in Dartford?
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.
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Dartford?
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.
Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Dartford?
Dartford Borough 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.
How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Dartford?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Dartford 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.
Other options in Dartford
- Garage courts and yards
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Garden plot option agreement
- Plot feasibility and design
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Corner and side plots

