How Much is My Land Worth in Derby?

We map the title and proposed development area against the Derby City boundary, adopted policies map, Regulation 19 policies map and city-centre inset map. The review identifies any adopted allocation, emerging housing or employment allocation, Green Belt, Green Wedge, proposed Green Gap, open space, heritage designation, flood constraint, transport proposal or infrastructure requirement. It also checks whether the relevant land extends beyond the city boundary or excludes an access, drainage route or service corridor needed for development.

We then distinguish an adopted allocation from an emerging allocation, permission, Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment record, Call for Sites submission, brownfield-register entry, former proposal or unassessed parcel. Each carries different planning weight and risk. Derby’s ongoing Call for Sites can identify land for assessment, but submission does not guarantee allocation or permission. The Call for Sites guide explains the evidential rather than permissive role of that process.

Derby City Council’s July 2026 statement identifies an annual local housing need of 960 dwellings, applies a 20% buffer and concludes that the city has 2.39 years of deliverable housing supply. That is an important current consideration because the adopted strategic housing requirement is out of date and the Council cannot demonstrate five years of deliverable sites. It may increase the significance of suitable housing proposals under national policy, but it does not remove Green Belt, flood-risk, heritage, design, access or other development-management tests.

We therefore do not value every unallocated field or urban plot as though permission is inevitable. The assessment considers whether the site is in a sustainable location, whether the adverse effects would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits under the applicable policy test, whether a deliverable layout exists and how long promotion or an application may take. The tilted-balance guide explains why a housing shortfall can change the decision framework without creating an automatic development right.

A city-centre valuation begins with a realistic capacity study rather than the gross site area. We consider the proposed use mix, building height, massing, daylight, servicing, parking, public realm, active frontages, retained heritage, flood resilience and relationship with adjoining buildings. Derby requires relevant major, tall, masterplan and heritage-sensitive city-centre proposals to be tested through its three-dimensional Digital Twin, including schemes affecting the skyline or the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and its buffer zone.

We also review ownership and occupational evidence. A scheme may depend on acquiring an adjoining parcel, releasing a restrictive right, relocating a tenant, maintaining access to a retained use or coordinating infrastructure across several blocks. Delays, ransom positions and acquisition costs can materially reduce residual value even where the planning strategy supports regeneration. A development appraisal should therefore reflect the implementable site rather than an aspirational masterplan assembled from land not yet controlled.

Derby is served by the A38, A52, A61, A6 and A511, with the A50 and M1 important beyond the city. It also has the main Derby station and smaller stations at Pear Tree and Spondon. That connectivity can support residential and employment demand, but the city’s evidence identifies congestion pressure at strategic and local hotspots. Proximity to a major road, station or bus route does not establish that a site has a lawful, safe or deliverable access.

We check adopted highway, ownership and title information alongside visibility, junction capacity, pedestrian and cycle connections, public transport, bridge or culvert constraints and the effect of committed growth. Where an allocation requires a new junction, link road or land outside the ownership, the timing and cost are included in the valuation. The access and highways guide explains why physical frontage is not the same as a legally and technically acceptable development access.

Flood risk is central to several Derby regeneration and allocation sites. The July 2026 Level 2 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment screened 38 sites and selected 18 for detailed analysis. It identifies fluvial risk associated particularly with the River Derwent and Markeaton Brook, surface-water flow routes, climate-change effects and potential problems with safe access and escape. The Our City Our River works provide important protection and regeneration infrastructure, but site-specific residual risk, defence performance and current modelling still have to be checked.

We review flood zones, watercourses, culverts, historic and surface-water evidence, groundwater, sewer capacity, sustainable drainage space, lawful outfalls and emergency access. Land required for attenuation, floodplain compensation, blue-green infrastructure or an undeveloped riverside corridor may reduce the net residential or employment area while still being necessary to make the scheme acceptable. The flood-risk and drainage guide explains why a gross-acre comparison can overstate value where water management controls the layout.

Derby contains a limited area of statutory Green Belt in the north and east and 13 Green Wedges across the city. Green Wedges can support settlement separation, green infrastructure, recreation, landscape, ecology, flood management and movement corridors, but they are a local designation rather than Green Belt. The emerging plan may also use Green Gaps or revised boundaries. We establish the exact designation before considering national Green Belt policy, grey-belt arguments or a local-policy case.

A site’s open character can still be important where no Green Belt designation applies. Public open space, playing fields, habitat networks, trees, rights of way and drainage functions may constrain development or require compensatory provision. We assess the policy purpose, physical contribution and alternative locations rather than assuming that all greenfield land has the same planning risk. The Green Belt value guide explains why designation, planning prospects and existing use must be considered separately.

The Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site enters Derby through Darley Abbey and extends towards the city centre, with a wider buffer and setting that can affect development beyond the inscribed boundary. Derby also contains listed buildings, conservation areas, historic parks, archaeological sensitivity and important views. A proposal may need to preserve significance through retention, lower height, greater separation, a different access, archaeological investigation or a more carefully designed public realm.

Heritage can support value where a distinctive building or waterside setting creates a strong place, but conversion and repair can carry substantial cost and risk. We consider structural condition, contamination, enabling development, conservation requirements, abnormal construction, maintenance and the effect of height or massing on key views. The heritage and development land guide explains why significance and viable reuse should be assessed early rather than treated as a late design matter.

Derby opportunities frequently involve former industrial land, occupied employment premises, demolition, made ground, contamination, utilities, easements, rail or highway interfaces and neighbouring operations. Larger sites may also need schools, health provision, public open space, habitat land, drainage, utilities reinforcement, affordable housing and Section 106 contributions. These costs and land requirements reduce the amount available for saleable development and must be reflected before a residual land figure is adopted.

We compare the proposed development value with acquisition, construction, finance, professional fees, planning obligations, abnormal costs, marketing and the purchaser’s required return. We also protect the distinction between present existing-use value, hope value before permission and the value of a deliverable consent. The contaminated-land guide, utilities guide and planning-contributions guide explain the principal deductions that can affect the landowner’s net position.