- Planning authority
- Gwynedd Council
- Postcodes
- LL57
- Noon sun, 21 March
- About 37°
- Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
- About 6.7 m
- Planning plan
- LDP
- County
- Gwynedd
Before you decide in Bethesda
Overshadowing is one of the first things a planning officer checks on a garden scheme. In Bethesda, the spring equinox sun reaches only about 37° at midday, which means a 5 m eaves line lays down a shadow around 6.7 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 Gwynedd Council to approve. Sometimes that means a lower roof or a home set further back.
From first call to decision
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to sell if a satisfactory permission is granted.
- You wait for a planning decision, and possibly an appeal, before you are paid.
Your questions, answered for Bethesda
Do I keep my garden in Bethesda 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.
Can I still use my garden in Bethesda 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.
Who decides the planning application on a conditional sale in Bethesda?
That is Gwynedd Council’s decision as the local planning authority, made under the council’s Local Development Plan (LDP) and Planning Policy Wales (PPW). 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.
Do I pay for the planning application on my Bethesda 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.
Other options in Bethesda
- Planning promotion for your garden plot
- Garden plot option agreement
- Build a new home in your garden
- Sell part of your garden
- Joint venture on your garden plot
- Combine gardens with your neighbours