Backland Development
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Sell part of your garden in Sheffield

Some gardens in Sheffield are long enough to hold a second home behind the first, and some side gardens are wide enough to hold one beside it. Either can be sold on its own while you stay put. The sale doesn’t need planning permission in place, and you don’t need to clear, fence or build anything first.

What it does need is a clear route in. A shared or new drive has to work for cars, deliveries and bin collections, and 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). If the only way in crosses land you don’t own, a ransom strip can change the deal entirely, so we check who owns the access before anything else.

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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
Sheffield City Council
Postcodes
S1, S2, S3, S4, S7
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.7 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
South Yorkshire

How it plays out in Sheffield

Light is often the deciding issue on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Sheffield stands about 37° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.7 m across the ground behind it. By late December, with the sun only around 13° up, those shadows stretch much further.

That’s why the gap between your house and any new home matters so much to Sheffield City 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 Sheffield: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.7 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 21.4 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Sheffield on 21 March sits about 37° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.7 m. In December the sun is only about 13° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

From first call to decision

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

Your questions, answered for Sheffield

How long does selling a garden plot in Sheffield 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 Sheffield garden?

Sheffield 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.

Can I sell part of my garden in Sheffield 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 Sheffield 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.

Can I sell the plot and keep living in my Sheffield 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.

Other options in Sheffield

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