Why would neighbours combine their gardens?
Because a row of long gardens often works much better as one site than as several separate plots. One garden alone may be too narrow for a decent drive, or too shallow to keep a new home far enough from the houses. Put three or four together and a single, well-placed access can serve several new homes laid out with proper gardens and parking.
A combined scheme can also solve problems that stop single gardens. If one neighbour has a wide side drive or a garage, their land may give the access the others lack. If one garden backs onto a lane, that may become the way in for everyone, keeping cars away from the existing houses.
Councils often prefer one planned scheme to a series of separate applications, each squeezing a home behind a house. That is never a guarantee, and every scheme is still judged on access, privacy, daylight, garden space and the character of the area.
How is the value shared fairly between neighbours?
The usual answer is equalisation: everyone shares in the overall outcome according to an agreed formula, rather than each owner being paid only for the land that ends up under a new home. Without it, the owner whose garden carries the access road, or ends up as open space, would lose out.
Formulas vary. Some share by the area of land each owner puts in, some give extra weight to the garden that provides the access, and some combine both. The right one is the one every owner understands and agrees to, written down before planning money is spent.
What goes into a collaboration agreement?
A collaboration agreement is the contract between the neighbours, and with us, that holds the scheme together. Each owner’s solicitor reviews it. It usually covers:
- Who is taking part and exactly which land each owner puts in
- How proceeds or benefits are shared, including the equalisation formula
- How decisions are made, and what needs everyone’s agreement
- What happens if an owner sells their house or dies during the agreement
- How long the agreement lasts and how it ends if planning is refused
- Who pays which costs, including reasonable legal fees and any caps
Does everyone on the street have to take part?
No. A scheme is designed around the owners who want to join, and the others carry on as before. Gaps can affect the layout, though: if the garden in the middle of a row stays out, the site may split in two, or the access may need to go elsewhere.
Nobody should be pressed to take part. Neighbours who stay out will still be consulted on the planning application like anyone else, so a design that respects their privacy and daylight matters as much as it would for any garden plot.
How do you start the conversation with your neighbours?
Usually with an informal chat over the fence. It helps to have something concrete to show, so many people start with a free garden plot appraisal of their own land and the gardens around it. That gives everyone a sense of what could fit before anyone commits.
We can come to a meeting with you and your neighbours, explain the routes and answer questions, or put a short written summary through doors so everyone reads the same thing. Each owner keeps their house, keeps the final say over their own land, and should have their own solicitor.
The routes for a combined site include a sale of the land to us, a sale subject to planning, an option agreement, and planning promotion, which tends to suit larger combined sites. On option and promotion agreements we cover reasonable legal fees up to a cap set in heads of terms, and on promotion there is nothing to pay upfront. Each owner’s tax position is their own, so everyone should take advice.
Common questions
Do all the neighbours have to agree?
No. The scheme is designed around those who want to take part, and nobody is pressed to join. Gaps can change the layout, for example where the middle garden in a row stays out. Neighbours who don’t join are still consulted on the planning application in the usual way.
What if only one garden can provide the access?
That’s common, and it’s what equalisation is for. The value of the whole scheme is shared by an agreed formula, so the owner whose land carries the access road isn’t left worse off than the others. The formula is agreed and written into the collaboration agreement before any planning money is spent.
What happens if a neighbour sells their house during the scheme?
The collaboration agreement should deal with it, usually by requiring a buyer of the house to take on the agreement or by protecting the arrangement on the title. Your solicitor checks how that’s handled before you sign, so a sale next door doesn’t unpick the scheme.
Will you talk to my neighbours for me?
If you want us to, yes. We can join a meeting, explain how combining gardens works and answer questions, or provide a written summary everyone can read in their own time. We never pressure anyone, and each owner should take their own legal advice.
Do we each keep our houses?
Yes. Each owner keeps their house and a garden. Only the land going into the scheme is affected, and each part is dealt with by a transfer of part on that owner’s title, with their lender’s agreement if the house is mortgaged.