- Planning authority
- Swale Borough Council
- Postcodes
- ME9, ME10
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 39°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.3 m
- Planning plan
- Local Plan
- County
- Kent
The local picture in Sittingbourne
Light is often the deciding issue on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Sittingbourne stands about 39° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.3 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 Swale 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.
The next steps, locally
Next steps in Sittingbourne 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
- Your house keeps a smaller garden, which some future buyers will welcome and others won’t.
- 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 sale without planning is priced for the planning risk we take on, so it usually pays less than the same plot with permission.
Questions about garden plots in Sittingbourne
How long does selling a garden plot in Sittingbourne 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.
Do you buy garden plots in Faversham, Gillingham and Chatham as well as Sittingbourne?
Yes. We cover England and Wales, including the places around Sittingbourne. 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.
What if my Sittingbourne 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 Swale 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 Sittingbourne?
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.
Other options in Sittingbourne
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Large rear gardens
- Build a new home in your garden
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Plot feasibility and design
- Sell subject to planning