Backland Development
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Planning promotion for garden plots in Tonbridge

Two or three neighbouring back gardens in Tonbridge 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.

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White architectural model of a house at the front of a plot with two new homes at the end of the garden
Planning authority
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Postcodes
TN9, TN10, TN11
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.2 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Kent

Before you decide in Tonbridge

On many backland plots, access matters more than size. A long garden in Tonbridge may have no route to the road wide enough for cars, bins and emergency vehicles, and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council will look closely at the effect of a new drive on the homes either side of it.

For homes in TN9, TN10 and TN11 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.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Tonbridge: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.2 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.2 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Tonbridge on 21 March sits about 39° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.2 m. In December the sun is only about 15° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

How we’d take it forward in Tonbridge

From first call to completion, a promotion in Tonbridge 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.

  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. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  • Planning may be refused. You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, but the months spent can’t be given back.
  • You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.
  • The plot’s price isn’t known until it’s marketed with permission; it depends on location, size, access and the permission itself.

Your questions, answered for Tonbridge

Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Tonbridge?

Tonbridge and Malling 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.

Does a mortgage on my Tonbridge 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.

Is planning promotion available for a single garden in Tonbridge?

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.

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

It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Tonbridge and Malling 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 Tonbridge

Planning promotion near Tonbridge

Find out what your garden could become

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

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