- Planning authority
- Derby City Council
- Postcodes
- DE1, DE3, DE23, DE24
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.6 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Derbyshire
The local picture in Derby
Light is often the deciding issue on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Derby stands about 37° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.6 m across the ground behind it. By late December, with the sun only around 14° up, those shadows stretch much further.
That’s why the gap between your house and any new home matters so much to Derby City Council, and why a single-storey or dormer design sometimes succeeds where a full two storeys wouldn’t. We test the shadows before we offer, because they affect what the plot can hold.
What happens next in Derby
Next steps in Derby are simple. Send us your address and a rough idea of the part of the garden you’d consider selling. We check the title and the planning position from our desk, call you to talk it through, and arrange a visit if the plot looks viable. If it is, a written offer follows, subject to survey, title and contract.
Free plot appraisal
Tell us about your garden. We check the title plan, access, local policy and planning history from our desk, then talk it through with you. If it looks viable, we arrange a site visit, with no cost and no obligation.
Solicitors and lender
Your solicitor prepares the transfer of part and asks your mortgage lender to release the plot. Ours checks the title, covenants, rights of way and searches, while surveys of trees, ground and drainage run alongside.
Exchange and completion
Once both sides are satisfied, contracts are exchanged and a completion date is fixed. On completion the money passes through the solicitors and HM Land Registry registers the plot under a new title of its own.
After the sale
Any boundary fence or access works agreed in the transfer are carried out as set out. If the plot still needs planning, we apply as the new owner, and you can see and comment on the plans like any other neighbour.
Worth checking early
- Selling the plot after you have sold or moved out of the house can change the tax position; take advice from a tax adviser.
- Lender consent, old covenants or access disputes can slow a sale, and occasionally stop it.
- A new home will be built close to yours, with building work and deliveries for a period.
Questions about garden plots in Derby
How long does selling a garden plot in Derby take?
The legal work usually runs for a few months, much like an ordinary house sale. What drives it is the lender’s consent to release the plot, any covenant or access issue on the title, and how quickly both solicitors work. Selling without planning means there’s no council stage to wait for before completion.
Will I need my own solicitor for a garden plot sale in Derby?
Yes. You need a solicitor or licensed conveyancer acting for you on the transfer of part, separate from ours. Choose one who handles property sales and, ideally, development land. Who pays their fees is agreed in heads of terms before you instruct them.
Do you buy garden plots in Belper, Ilkeston and Heanor as well as Derby?
Yes. We cover England and Wales, including the places around Derby. The process is the same wherever your garden is, although planning policies depend on the council for your address, so our desk check always starts by finding out which one that is.
Can I sell part of my garden in Derby without planning permission?
Yes. We buy suitable plots with or without planning, subject to survey, title and contract. Without permission, we take on the risk that Derby City Council refuses an application, and our offer allows for that. If you’d rather sell only once permission is granted, a sale subject to planning is the alternative.
Other options in Derby
- Plot feasibility and design
- Build a home for family in your garden
- Bungalows on large plots
- Sell subject to planning
- Build a new home in your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot