Sell part of your garden in Potters Bar

If you own a house in Potters Bar with more garden than you need, selling the far end of it as a building plot lets you release that land without moving. We buy suitable plots outright, with or without planning permission, always subject to survey, title and contract. You keep the house, the part of the garden you use, and the final say on where the line falls.

Hertsmere Borough Council would decide any application for a new home on the plot, judging it against the council’s Local Plan and the NPPF. Our free appraisal looks at those policies alongside your title plan and the way in from the road, so you hear early whether a sale looks realistic.

Long back garden with a string line and marker pegs across the lawn showing where a plot could be split off
Planning authority
Hertsmere Borough Council
Postcodes
EN6
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.3 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Hertfordshire

What the council will look at in Potters Bar

On many garden plots, access matters more than size. If a new home behind yours would be reached along a strip beside the house, Hertsmere Borough Council will look at how wide it is, how far drivers can see where it meets the road, and how much noise and headlight glare from passing cars would reach you and the neighbours.

Building regulations add their own test, because the new home will need fire engine access (or other measures, often sprinklers, agreed with building control and the fire service where a fire engine can’t get close enough). Whether your garden is in EN6 or just beyond, we measure the access early, since it shapes the offer more than almost anything else.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Potters Bar: 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 18.8 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Potters Bar: 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

Here is what happens if you contact us about a garden in Potters Bar. We ask a few questions about the house, the garden and any mortgage. We run the desk checks and call back with a view, good or bad. If it’s good, we visit and make a written offer to buy the plot outright. If you accept, heads of terms set out the price, the boundary and who pays what before solicitors start.

  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. 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.

Worth checking early

  • Lender consent, old covenants or access disputes can slow a sale, and occasionally stop it.
  • Selling the plot after you have sold or moved out of the house can change the tax position; take advice from a tax adviser.
  • A new home will be built close to yours, with building work and deliveries for a period.

Potters Bar: questions to ask

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

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

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.

Can I sell part of my garden in Potters Bar 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 Hertsmere 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.

Do you buy garden plots in Borehamwood, Hatfield and Cheshunt as well as Potters Bar?

Yes. We cover England and Wales, including the places around Potters Bar. 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.

Other options in Potters Bar

Sell your garden plot near Potters Bar

Find out what your garden could become

Free garden plot appraisal. No cost, no obligation, and a straight answer if it won’t work.