- Planning authority
- Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
- Postcodes
- WS10
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.5 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- West Midlands
How it plays out in Wednesbury
Shadow and distance are often why a combined site in Wednesbury works better than a single garden. With the sun at about 37° at noon in late March, the shadow from a 5 m eaves line reaches roughly 6.5 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. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council still makes the decision.
What happens next in Wednesbury
The first step for a Wednesbury garden is a conversation and a desktop check, at no cost. We then send written heads of terms covering the term, minimum price, cost cap and fee. Once the agreement is signed, we commission surveys and drawings, take pre-application advice from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council where it helps, and submit the application. Marketing starts only after permission is granted.
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.
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.
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
- You can’t sell the plot to anyone else while the agreement runs, so the term length matters.
- 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.
Your questions, answered for Wednesbury
Who decides a planning application for a garden plot in Wednesbury?
Sandwell Metropolitan 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 is a promoted garden plot in Wednesbury sold?
After permission, an agent agreed with you markets the plot to builders, developers and self-builders. You see the offers and approve the buyer. The plot can’t be sold below the agreed minimum price without your written consent, and any offer from us has to stand up against the open market.
How long does planning promotion take for a garden in Wednesbury?
It usually takes longer than a straight sale. Design and surveys often take a few months, then Sandwell Metropolitan 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 Wednesbury 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 Wednesbury
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Garden plot option agreement
- Plot feasibility and design
- Sell subject to planning
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Planning permission for a garden plot

