Backland Development
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Sell your garden plot subject to planning in St Austell

A sale subject to planning sits halfway between selling your St Austell garden plot outright and waiting to see what happens. It commits us from exchange, so you aren’t left with an offer that can quietly fade, but it doesn’t move any land until Cornwall Council has granted permission.

We’re a new brand within the S&K Group, so we won’t claim a long track record. What we can offer is a contract you can read, a price set before the decision, and a scheme designed carefully around the council’s Local Plan. Your own solicitor checks everything before you sign.

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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
PL25, PL26
Noon sun, 21 March
About 40°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.0 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Cornwall

Before you decide in St Austell

Cornwall Council judges every application against the council’s Local Plan, and a conditional contract is only as good as the planning case behind it. So before agreeing terms on a garden in St Austell, we read the policies on homes in gardens, any guidance on parking and privacy distances, and the council’s recent decisions on similar plots. That tells us what kind of scheme stands the best chance and how long the long-stop date ought to be. If the policies point firmly against a new home, we won’t suggest a conditional sale at all.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in St Austell: 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 17.2 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in St Austell on 21 March sits about 40° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.0 m. In December the sun is only about 16° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

How we’d take it forward in St Austell

From first enquiry to exchange of contracts usually takes a few months, set mainly by the solicitors and any title questions. The planning stage then runs on its own timetable, depending on surveys and on Cornwall Council. We keep you updated throughout, share the drawings before submission and tell you as soon as a decision is issued.

  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. Exchange of conditional contracts

    Both solicitors agree the contract and the plan of the plot. On exchange, both sides are bound, subject to the planning condition, and our contract is noted on your title so the plot can’t be sold elsewhere.

  4. 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.

Worth checking early

  • Capital Gains Tax timing on a conditional sale can differ from an ordinary sale; take advice from a tax adviser.
  • You wait for a planning decision, and possibly an appeal, before you are paid.
  • Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to sell if a satisfactory permission is granted.

Questions about garden plots in St Austell

Do I keep my garden in St Austell if planning is refused?

Yes. Nothing is transferred until a satisfactory permission is granted, so a refusal leaves the land in your ownership. Depending on the contract, we may revise the scheme and reapply, or appeal, before the long-stop date. If that doesn’t succeed, the contract ends and our notice comes off your title.

Do I pay for the planning application on my St Austell 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.

Is a sale subject to planning in St Austell better than an option?

It depends on the plot. A conditional sale binds both sides from exchange and suits a single plot with a clear scheme. An option gives us a right to buy rather than an obligation, and suits plots where the outcome is less certain or the timescale is longer. We’ll recommend one after the appraisal.

Who decides the planning application on a conditional sale in St Austell?

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 St Austell

Subject to planning near St Austell

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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