- Planning authority
- South Norfolk Council
- Postcodes
- IP22
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 38°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.5 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Norfolk
The local picture in Diss
At noon on 21 March the sun over Diss sits about 38° above the horizon, so a two-storey eaves line around 5 m high casts a shadow of roughly 6.5 m. By 21 December, with the sun at about 14°, that shadow is far longer. South Norfolk 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 Diss
Here’s what happens after you contact us about a garden in Diss. 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.
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.
Worth checking early
- You’ll live next to whatever is built, so the layout, windows and new boundary affect your house too.
- 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 Diss
Does a mortgage on my Diss 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.
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Diss?
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.
Is planning promotion available for a single garden in Diss?
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 Diss?
South Norfolk 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.
Other options in Diss
- Combine gardens with your neighbours
- Sell part of your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Plot feasibility and design
- Garage courts and yards
- Planning permission for a garden plot

