Backland Development
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Sell part of your garden in Westminster

We’re Backland Development, a new brand within the S&K Group, and we’re looking to buy garden plots from homeowners in Westminster and across Greater London. 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
Westminster City Council
Postcodes
NW8, SW1X, W1H, W1M, W2
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Greater London

What shapes a plot in Westminster

Every garden sale in Westminster ends up as a transfer of part, so the title is where our checks begin. We look for covenants that restrict building, rights of way crossing the plot, and whether the boundary on the ground matches the plan. A mortgage lender will need to release the plot, and a sewer under the lawn may need a build-over agreement.

On the planning side, the searches show what Westminster City Council has approved or refused at the address, and the council’s Local Plan shows how it views new homes in gardens. Together, these tell us whether to make an offer before anyone takes a tape measure out.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Westminster: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.3 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.6 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Westminster: 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.

How we’d take it forward in Westminster

Next steps in Westminster 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. 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.

  3. 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.

  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.
  • A new home will be built close to yours, with building work and deliveries for a period.
  • A sale without planning is priced for the planning risk we take on, so it usually pays less than the same plot with permission.

Westminster: questions to ask

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

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 the plot and keep living in my Westminster house?

Yes, that’s the whole point of a plot sale. You keep the house and the rest of the garden, and the boundary is drawn where you agree. The transfer can include rights and covenants that protect your home, such as who builds the new fence and limits on windows facing your property.

Can I sell part of my garden in Westminster 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 Westminster 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.

Who decides whether a new home can be built in a Westminster garden?

Westminster City Council decides, as the local planning authority, using the council’s Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Neighbours and consultees can comment, and the council weighs their points against planning policy. Nobody, including us, can promise the outcome, which is why an outright sale without planning is priced for that uncertainty.

Other options in Westminster

Sell your garden plot near Westminster

Find out what your garden could become

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