Backland Development
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Sell your garden plot subject to planning in Whitefield

Selling your garden plot in Whitefield 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 Bury Metropolitan Borough 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
Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
Postcodes
M45
Noon sun, 21 March
About 36°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.8 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Greater Manchester

What shapes a plot in Whitefield

Overshadowing is one of the first things a planning officer checks on a garden scheme. In Whitefield, the spring equinox sun reaches only about 36° at midday, which means a 5 m eaves line lays down a shadow around 6.8 m long. Come the shortest day, the sun climbs no higher than roughly 13° 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 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council to approve. Sometimes that means a lower roof or a home set further back.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Whitefield: about 36 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 36°, shadow 6.8 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 21.6 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Whitefield: 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.

The next steps, locally

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. 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.

  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

  • Capital Gains Tax timing on a conditional sale can differ from an ordinary sale; take advice from a tax adviser.
  • The definition of satisfactory permission and the long-stop date decide how certain the sale really is; read both closely.
  • Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to sell if a satisfactory permission is granted.

Your questions, answered for Whitefield

Do I pay for the planning application on my Whitefield 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.

How long might a sale subject to planning take in Whitefield?

It usually runs for months, sometimes longer. Exchange often takes a few months; surveys and drawings take a few more; and the Planning Portal says most applications are decided within eight weeks of being valid, though garden schemes can take longer. The long-stop date sets the outer limit, agreed with you at the start.

Is a sale subject to planning in Whitefield 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.

Can I still use my garden in Whitefield while the contract runs?

Yes. The plot stays yours until completion, so you carry on using it as garden. The contract will ask you not to build on it, fell trees or grant new rights over it without agreement, and to allow surveyors in from time to time, by arrangement. Your solicitor will point out anything specific.

Other options in Whitefield

Subject to planning near Whitefield

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