Backland Development
0800 088 6248Free to call Free plot appraisal

Sell part of your garden in Cheltenham

We’re Backland Development, a new brand within the S&K Group, and we’re looking to buy garden plots from homeowners in Cheltenham and across Gloucestershire. The idea is simple: you keep your home and sell us the part of the garden that could hold another one. We take on the planning risk, the design and the build; your side is mostly a conversation and a solicitor.

Whether you have permission already or not, we’ll make a written offer if the plot works and explain how we arrived at it. Location, size, access and planning all affect the figure, which is why we don’t guess at prices before seeing the title and the site.

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Long back garden with a string line and marker pegs across the lawn showing where a plot could be split off
Planning authority
Cheltenham Borough Council
Postcodes
GL50, GL51, GL52
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.4 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Gloucestershire

Cheltenham: light, access and policy

Light is often the deciding issue on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Cheltenham stands about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.4 m across the ground behind it. By late December, with the sun only around 15° up, those shadows stretch much further.

That’s why the gap between your house and any new home matters so much to Cheltenham Borough 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.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Cheltenham: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.4 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 19.1 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Cheltenham: around 38° of sun at midday in late March and about 15° at midwinter. It shows why the gap between your house and a new home behind it is about light as well as privacy. Garden assumed to face north.

The next steps, locally

Next steps in Cheltenham 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.

  1. 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.

  2. Written offer and heads of terms

    We put our offer in writing, subject to survey, title and contract. Heads of terms then record the plot boundary, the price, access rights, who pays which costs and the rough timetable for each stage.

  3. 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.

  4. 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

  • Lender consent, old covenants or access disputes can slow a sale, and occasionally stop it.
  • Your house keeps a smaller garden, which some future buyers will welcome and others won’t.
  • A new home will be built close to yours, with building work and deliveries for a period.

Cheltenham: questions to ask

Do I pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) when I sell a garden plot in Cheltenham?

No. Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) falls on the buyer of land, so on a sale to us any amount due is ours to pay. What may affect you as the seller is Capital Gains Tax, depending on your circumstances and whether you still live in the house. Take advice from a tax adviser before you agree a deal.

What if my Cheltenham garden has a protected tree?

A tree covered by a Tree Preservation Order, or standing in a conservation area, needs consent or notice before work. That doesn’t automatically stop a sale. Often the new home is placed to avoid the roots and canopy, and Cheltenham Borough Council’s tree officer may comment on any application. We check for protected trees during the appraisal.

Will I need my own solicitor for a garden plot sale in Cheltenham?

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.

Can I sell part of my garden in Cheltenham 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 Cheltenham Borough 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 Cheltenham

Sell your garden plot near Cheltenham

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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