Backland Development
0800 088 6248Free to call Free plot appraisal

Sell your garden plot subject to planning in Prescot

Here is the shape of a conditional garden plot sale in Prescot. Heads of terms come first, setting out the price, the scheme we have in mind and the long-stop date. Solicitors then prepare the contract, and on exchange our interest is noted on your title. We apply to Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, and completion follows a satisfactory permission.

Each stage has its own pace. The whole thing usually runs for months rather than weeks, mostly because of surveys and the council’s decision period. Nothing about it is rushed, and nothing is promised that depends on the council.

Get a free appraisalCheck my garden
Site plan and house elevation drawings on a kitchen table with the back garden beyond the window
Planning authority
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Postcodes
L34
Noon sun, 21 March
About 37°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.7 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Merseyside

What shapes a plot in Prescot

Garden plots vary enormously, from long, straight gardens to wide corner plots, so for a garden in L34 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 Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council a scheme grounded in the real site rather than an outline on a map.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Prescot: about 37 degrees on 21 March and 13 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 37°, shadow 6.7 m21 Dec, noon: sun 13°, shadow 21.4 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Prescot: around 37° 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

After you get in touch about a garden in Prescot, we run the free appraisal and explain which route we would recommend. If it is a sale subject to planning, we draft heads of terms covering the price, the scheme, the long-stop date and costs. Once your solicitor is happy and contracts are exchanged, we begin the planning work.

  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 plot can’t be sold to anyone else while the contract runs, even if another offer comes along.
  • You wait for a planning decision, and possibly an appeal, before you are paid.

Prescot: questions to ask

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

That is Knowsley Metropolitan Borough 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.

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

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.

Do I pay for the planning application on my Prescot 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.

Can I still use my garden in Prescot 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 Prescot

Subject to planning near Prescot

Find out what your garden could become

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

Get my free appraisal 0800 088 6248