Backland Development
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Sell your garden plot subject to planning in Northampton

A sale subject to planning sits halfway between selling your Northampton garden plot outright and waiting to see what happens. It commits us from exchange, so you aren’t left with an offer that can quietly fade, but it doesn’t move any land until West Northamptonshire Council has granted permission.

We’re a new brand within the S&K Group, so we won’t claim a long track record. What we can offer is a contract you can read, a price set before the decision, and a scheme designed carefully around the council’s Local Plan. Your own solicitor checks everything before you sign.

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Site plan and house elevation drawings on a kitchen table with the back garden beyond the window
Planning authority
West Northamptonshire Council
Postcodes
NN1, NN2, NN3, NN4, NN5
Noon sun, 21 March
About 38°
Shadow from a 5 m eaves line
About 6.5 m
Planning plan
Local Plan
County
Northamptonshire

Northampton: light, access and policy

West Northamptonshire Council judges every application against the council’s Local Plan, and a conditional contract is only as good as the planning case behind it. So before agreeing terms on a garden in Northampton, we read the policies on homes in gardens, any guidance on parking and privacy distances, and the council’s recent decisions on similar plots. That tells us what kind of scheme stands the best chance and how long the long-stop date ought to be. If the policies point firmly against a new home, we won’t suggest a conditional sale at all.

Section showing noon sun and shadows in Northampton: about 38 degrees on 21 March and 14 degrees on 21 December21 m21 Mar, noon: sun 38°, shadow 6.5 m21 Dec, noon: sun 14°, shadow 19.6 mExistingNew home
Noon sun in Northampton on 21 March sits about 38° above the horizon, so a typical two-storey eaves line (about 5 m) throws a shadow of roughly 6.5 m. In December the sun is only about 14° up and shadows stretch much further. Drawn for a garden facing north, where it matters most.

What happens next in Northampton

After you get in touch about a garden in Northampton, 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

  • You wait for a planning decision, and possibly an appeal, before you are paid.
  • 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.

Northampton: questions to ask

Do I keep my garden in Northampton 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 Northampton 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.

Will my neighbours in Northampton be told about the application?

Yes. West Northamptonshire 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.

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

That is West Northamptonshire 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.

Other options in Northampton

Subject to planning near Northampton

Find out what your garden could become

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