Backland Development
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Sell part of your garden in Horley

Selling land at the back of your house in Horley is a legal transaction more than a building one. Nothing gets dug or demolished before you sell. A new boundary is drawn on a plan, your solicitor prepares a transfer of part, any mortgage lender agrees to release the plot, and HM Land Registry gives it a title of its own.

What makes that plot worth buying is the prospect of a new home being allowed on it, and that turns on access, space and how a scheme would sit beside the houses around it. We look at all three for any garden in Horley before making a written offer.

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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
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
Postcodes
RH6
Noon sun, 21 March
About 39°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.2 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Surrey

Horley: light, access and policy

Light is often the deciding issue on a garden plot. At midday on 21 March the sun in Horley stands about 39° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line casts a shadow of roughly 6.2 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 Reigate and Banstead 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.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Horley: about 39 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 39°, shadow 6.2 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 18.2 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Horley: around 39° 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.

What happens next in Horley

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

  • Your house keeps a smaller garden, which some future buyers will welcome and others won’t.
  • Lender consent, old covenants or access disputes can slow a sale, and occasionally stop it.
  • A sale without planning is priced for the planning risk we take on, so it usually pays less than the same plot with permission.

Horley: questions to ask

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

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.

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

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.

How long does selling a garden plot in Horley 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 Crawley, Redhill and Reigate as well as Horley?

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

Sell your garden plot near Horley

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