- Planning authority
- Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
- Postcodes
- HX1, HX3, HX4
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 36°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.8 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- West Yorkshire
What the council will look at in Halifax
Every application Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council decides goes on its public planning register, and a refusal stays there. That record doesn’t stop a later application, but the next scheme has to answer the reasons given. It is one reason we prepare a garden plot in Halifax carefully before submitting: measured survey, access check, separation distances, trees and drainage.
We also check the planning history of your house and the gardens near it, and what the council’s Local Plan says about garden land. Past decisions on nearby plots are often the best guide to what the council will accept.
What happens next in Halifax
The first step for a Halifax 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 Calderdale 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.
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.
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
- On a single small plot, fixed costs and our fee take a bigger share of the sale price than on a larger site.
- 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.
Halifax: questions to ask
How is a promoted garden plot in Halifax 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.
Do I pay anything upfront for planning promotion in Halifax?
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.
Does a mortgage on my Halifax 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.
What happens if planning is refused for my garden in Halifax?
You keep your land and owe nothing for planning, because our costs are only recovered from a sale with planning. Within the term we may revise the scheme and reapply, or appeal if the grounds are strong. If there’s no realistic route to permission, the agreement ends.
Other options in Halifax
- Tandem and landlocked plots
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Build a new home in your garden
- Planning permission for a garden plot
- Large rear gardens
- Garden plot option agreement