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Sell your garden plot subject to planning in Harpenden

Selling your garden plot in Harpenden 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 St Albans City and District 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
St Albans City and District Council
Postcodes
AL3, AL5
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.4 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Hertfordshire

What the council will look at in Harpenden

Garden plots vary enormously, from long, straight gardens to wide corner plots, so for a garden in AL3 and AL5 the first visit is about measuring rather than guessing. We record the plot’s depth and width, the route from the road, levels, trees and the neighbouring windows that face it.

Those measurements decide how the conditional contract is drafted. They feed the price formula, set what counts as a satisfactory permission and show how much time the long-stop date needs. They also give St Albans City and District Council a scheme grounded in the real site rather than an outline on a map.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Harpenden: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 15 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.4 m21 Dec, noon: sun 15°, shadow 19.0 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Harpenden: around 38° 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.

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. 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 definition of satisfactory permission and the long-stop date decide how certain the sale really is; read both closely.
  • The plot can’t be sold to anyone else while the contract runs, even if another offer comes along.
  • Capital Gains Tax timing on a conditional sale can differ from an ordinary sale; take advice from a tax adviser.

Your questions, answered for Harpenden

Will my neighbours in Harpenden be told about the application?

Yes. St Albans City and District 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.

Can I still use my garden in Harpenden 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.

What if I want to sell my Harpenden 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 Harpenden 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 Harpenden

Subject to planning near Harpenden

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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