Backland Development
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Sell your garden plot subject to planning in Falmouth

Selling your garden plot in Falmouth subject to planning means agreeing the price now and completing only once permission is granted. Contracts are exchanged at the start, so both sides are committed, but the plot stays in your name until the condition is met. If Cornwall Council refuses and the contract ends, you keep your land.

We normally fund the planning application, with any cost recovery agreed in heads of terms before you sign. That lets you benefit from a price informed by planning without paying for drawings, surveys or fees yourself. Our free appraisal tells you whether the plot looks right for it.

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Site plan and house elevation drawings on a kitchen table with the back garden beyond the window
Planning authority
Cornwall Council
Postcodes
TR10, TR11
Noon sun, 21 March
About 40°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.0 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Cornwall

What shapes a plot in Falmouth

Overshadowing is one of the first things a planning officer checks on a garden scheme. In Falmouth, the spring equinox sun reaches only about 40° at midday, which means a 5 m eaves line lays down a shadow around 6.0 m long. Come the shortest day, the sun climbs no higher than roughly 16° and the shade stretches far beyond that.

We model those shadows when we design the scheme, because a home that keeps light off your windows and the neighbours’ gardens is easier for Cornwall Council to approve. Sometimes that means a lower roof or a home set further back.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Falmouth: about 40 degrees on 21 March and 16 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 40°, shadow 6.0 m21 Dec, noon: sun 16°, shadow 17.0 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Falmouth: around 40° of sun at midday in late March and about 16° 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 Falmouth

Getting started takes one message: your address and a rough sketch or description of the land you have in mind. From that we pull the title, look at the planning background and ring you with our view. If a conditional sale looks sensible, we come out to see the garden. Heads of terms follow, and your solicitor reviews them before anything is signed.

  1. Free plot appraisal

    We check your title, access, planning history and local policy from our desk, then talk it through with you. If a new home looks realistic, we visit the garden and tell you which route we think suits it best.

  2. Heads of terms

    We set out the price or price formula, what counts as satisfactory permission, the long-stop date, how any planning costs are treated and who pays which fees. You see all of it before instructing a solicitor.

  3. Planning application

    We commission the surveys, prepare the drawings, seek pre-application advice where useful and submit the application, normally at our cost. You see the plans before they go in, and the council makes the decision.

  4. Completion, or you keep your land

    Once a satisfactory permission is granted and any challenge period has passed, the sale completes within the agreed time and the plot gets its own title. If permission is refused and the contract ends, the land stays yours.

Worth checking early

  • The plot can’t be sold to anyone else while the contract runs, even if another offer comes along.
  • The definition of satisfactory permission and the long-stop date decide how certain the sale really is; read both closely.
  • You wait for a planning decision, and possibly an appeal, before you are paid.

Falmouth: questions to ask

Will my neighbours in Falmouth be told about the application?

Yes. Cornwall Council publicises applications through letters to neighbours, a site notice, or both, depending on its practice. Neighbours can comment, and the council weighs their views against planning policy. You can choose whether to speak to adjoining owners before the application goes in, and we’ll fit in with what you prefer.

What if I want to sell my Falmouth house during a conditional sale?

Tell us as early as you can. The conditional contract is noted on your title, so your house buyer’s solicitor will see it. The two sales can usually be arranged together, but the order matters for the legal work and possibly for Capital Gains Tax, so take advice from a tax adviser too.

Do I pay for the planning application on my Falmouth garden plot?

We normally fund the planning application, including surveys and drawings. Any recovery of those costs is agreed in heads of terms before you sign, for example as a deduction from the price at completion. You see the full position before instructing a solicitor, so there are no surprises later.

Who decides the planning application on a conditional sale in Falmouth?

That is Cornwall Council’s decision as the local planning authority, made under the council’s Local Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). We prepare the application, submit it and answer the council’s questions, but the outcome isn’t ours to control. That’s why the contract has a long-stop date and says what happens if permission is refused.

Other options in Falmouth

Subject to planning near Falmouth

Find out what your garden could become

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

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