Backland Development
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Sell your garden plot subject to planning in Selby

If your Selby garden could hold a new home but you’d rather not sell it before the planning question is answered, a conditional contract is worth a look. We agree a fixed price, or a formula linked to what the council approves, and exchange contracts. Then we design the scheme, carry out the surveys and apply.

You keep living in your house and using the garden throughout, and you see the drawings before they go to North Yorkshire Council. If a satisfactory permission arrives within the agreed time, the sale completes and the plot gets its own title. If not, nothing has been transferred.

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Site plan and house elevation drawings on a kitchen table with the back garden beyond the window
Planning authority
North Yorkshire Council
Postcodes
YO8
Noon sun, 21 March
About 36°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.8 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
North Yorkshire

Selby: light, access and policy

Neighbours in YO8 will receive notice of any application on your plot, and some will comment. North Yorkshire Council weighs those comments against planning policy rather than counting them, but a scheme that answers obvious worries about privacy, light and traffic before they are raised usually fares better.

Because you will still be living next door, we agree with you how and when neighbours hear about the plans. Some sellers prefer to speak to adjoining owners themselves before the application goes in; others leave it to the formal notice.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Selby: 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 22.0 mExistingNew home
This section is worked out for the latitude of Selby: 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.

What happens next in Selby

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

  • Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to sell if a satisfactory permission is granted.
  • The definition of satisfactory permission and the long-stop date decide how certain the sale really is; read both closely.
  • You wait for a planning decision, and possibly an appeal, before you are paid.

Selby: questions to ask

Is a sale subject to planning in Selby 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.

Do I pay for the planning application on my Selby 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.

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

That is North Yorkshire 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.

Will my neighbours in Selby be told about the application?

Yes. North Yorkshire 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.

Other options in Selby

Subject to planning near Selby

Find out what your garden could become

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