Garden and backland plots wanted in Swansea
Development Land Wanted buys garden and backland plots in Swansea and right across England and Wales. Owners and agents are both welcome.
If you have a long garden, or land behind your house with access to a lane or road, it may be a backland plot. We assess access, neighbours and the council's policy on garden land before suggesting a way forward.
- Size
- 1 to 20 homes typically
- Planning
- Usually without
- Areas
- England & Wales
- Ways we buy
- Conditional or outright
Is your land in Swansea the kind we want?
Backland development in Swansea turns on access and privacy; we look at both before suggesting whether an application is worth making. As the county town of West Glamorgan, Swansea anchors the area we cover here, along with Clydach, Briton Ferry and Gorseinon.
- Long rear gardens backing onto a lane, road or track
- Land behind houses with an existing drive or gap for access
- Plots where the owner wants to keep their house
- Sites with or without previous applications
West Glamorgan covers Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot and their valleys, including Gorseinon, Pontarddulais, Clydach, Ystalyfera and Briton Ferry. There is no green belt, but green wedges are used locally and the Gower National Landscape covers much of the peninsula west of Swansea. Former industrial and colliery land, edge-of-settlement fields and infill plots are typical sources of housing land, with coastal and river flood risk assessed under TAN 15.
What usually makes or breaks it
Access width
The drive or road into the plot must be safe for cars, bins and emergency vehicles.
Overlooking
New homes must sit far enough from existing homes to protect privacy.
Mortgage consent
If your home is mortgaged, the lender will usually need to release the garden land.
In Wales a planning permission usually lasts five years before work must begin, and land purchases are subject to Land Transaction Tax rather than Stamp Duty Land Tax.
We are based in Great Barr, Birmingham, around 108 miles from Swansea, and we travel to see sites across England and Wales.
Four ways to sell to us
Outright purchase
We agree a price and buy the land, with no planning condition attached.
Outright purchaseSubject-to-planning contract
We agree a price now and complete once a satisfactory planning permission is granted.
Subject-to-planning contractOption agreement
You grant us the right to buy within a set period, usually for an option premium, while we pursue planning.
Option agreementWhat happens after you get in touch
Get in touch
Tell us where the land is and what you know about it.
Site review
We look at the land, its planning position and anything that could affect it.
Proposal
We put our proposal in writing, with no obligation to accept.
Exchange and completion
If you go ahead, contracts are exchanged and the sale completes on the agreed terms.
Your questions answered
Will selling part of my garden affect my house value?
It can, and the effect varies. We plan the boundary and access to protect your home, and you should take independent advice on the overall position.
Do I pay tax on selling garden land?
Tax depends on your circumstances, including how much land you have and how it has been used. Speak to a tax adviser before you agree terms.
Can an agent introduce land in Swansea to you?
Yes. Estate agents, land agents and planning consultants can introduce sites with the owner's consent. Any fee is agreed in writing before details are shared, confirmed by the owner in writing and paid only on completion.
Which planning rules apply to land in Swansea?
As Swansea is in Wales, national policy comes from Planning Policy Wales and Future Wales: the National Plan 2040. Local policies in the council's development plan also apply.