To start this project, YDP bought a three-bedroom flat at the top of a substantial four storey, Victorian house in Blackheath. The flat itself was in need of serious refurbishment, but was acquired at a good price and after complete renovation was sold for a reasonable profit. It was sold without the head lease, which YDP kept to retain access rights to the garden.

This brings us to the main reason for the purchase - the opportunity presented by the extremely long garden. To the rear of the property was an access road which had already facilitated the building of numerous detached houses in the back halves of the gardens along the road. In fact, YDP's access rights were to the only garden that had not been developed in a row of around twenty houses!

Because the flat lease gave unrestricted access to the garden it meant that no one else, including Greenwich Borough Council - the freeholder of the property - would be able to build on the land without YDP’s permission.

After protracted discussions over several years, Greenwich Borough Council eventually agreed to sell the back half of the garden unconditionally to YDP.

YDP then obtained planning consent for a substantial detached house which benefitted from a large mature garden. Within a week of planning approval, another developer offered to acquire the plot for more than double the price paid for the land, allowing YDP a greater profit than might have been achieved by building out.

Contracts were exchanged in under a week.