Sell part of your garden in Knaresborough

We’re Backland Development, a new brand within the S&K Group, and we’re looking to buy garden plots from homeowners in Knaresborough and across North Yorkshire. 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.

Long back garden with a string line and marker pegs across the lawn showing where a plot could be split off
Planning authority
North Yorkshire Council
Postcodes
HG5
Noon sun, 21 March
About 36°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.9 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
North Yorkshire

The local picture in Knaresborough

North Yorkshire Council sets out its approach to new homes in the council’s Local Plan, and many councils add supplementary guidance on garden development, privacy distances and parking. Those documents, rather than rules of thumb, are what an application for a plot in Knaresborough would be tested against. Before we offer on a garden, we read the relevant policies, look at recent decisions on similar plots nearby and check whether the site falls in a conservation area or flood zone. If the policies point against a new home, we say so rather than offering a price we can’t stand behind.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Knaresborough: about 36 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 36°, shadow 6.9 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 22.5 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Knaresborough: around 36° of sun at midday in late March and about 13° 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.

What happens next in Knaresborough

Here is what happens if you contact us about a garden in Knaresborough. 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

  • 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.
  • Lender consent, old covenants or access disputes can slow a sale, and occasionally stop it.

Questions about garden plots in Knaresborough

Can I sell part of my garden in Knaresborough 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 North Yorkshire 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.

How long does selling a garden plot in Knaresborough 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.

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

North Yorkshire 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.

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

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 Knaresborough

Sell your garden plot near Knaresborough

Find out what your garden could become

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