How Much is My Land Worth in South Derbyshire?

The adopted plan continues to control settlement boundaries, strategic allocations and development-management policy while the two review documents progress. The proposed Part 1 changes plan for 10,140 homes to meet South Derbyshire’s own needs, with the remaining provision contributing towards Derby City’s unmet need and providing delivery flexibility. The emerging strategy carries forward major existing sites and adds strategic proposals rather than starting with a blank map.

The April 2026 Housing Position Paper calculated a 5.27-year supply using the standard-method need after applying the appeal-tested adjustment for homes intended to meet Derby City’s need. A generic assertion that South Derbyshire lacks a five-year supply should therefore not be the basis of a valuation. We test the latest position, the effect of the August 2026 national framework, competing permissions and realistic delivery before assessing whether an unallocated site adds planning benefit. See the guides to five-year housing-land supply and Local Plan allocation.

The proposed STRA1 allocation, Infinity Garden Village, sits immediately south of Derby between Chellaston, Infinity Park Derby and the A50. The emerging strategy identifies approximately 2,000 homes overall, with 1,665 expected within the plan period, alongside a local centre, education, health, open-space and transport requirements. It must also relate coherently to the long-standing Wragley Way allocation and the existing residential and employment edge of Derby.

Land near the allocation is not automatically part of the garden village. We check the proposed policy boundary, ownership structure, gas-pipeline safeguarding, existing sports facilities, the Derby Canal restoration corridor, drainage, cycle links, the South Derby Integrated Transport Link and the proposed A50 junction. Strategic land may need equalisation, collaboration or access across other ownerships before it has a deliverable value. The Derby city guide, land-equalisation guide and collaboration-agreement guide explain the separate issues.

The proposed STRA2 allocation, Land South of Mickleover, is identified for approximately 2,500 homes overall, with 1,838 expected within the plan period. It sits beside existing development at Hackwood Farm and Land West of Mickleover and is linked to the wider A38, A516 and Derby road network. The emerging policy anticipates a comprehensive scheme with schools, local facilities, green infrastructure and a possible road connection between the A516 and A38 where transport evidence requires it.

The proposed FLG1 allocation at Brun Lane, Mackworth is smaller, at around 250 homes, but it has its own relationship with Derby, Amber Valley, the A38/A52 junction and surrounding countryside. Overhead electricity lines, access rights, city-edge traffic, education capacity and cross-boundary infrastructure can reduce net acreage or delay delivery. We therefore separate land physically close to a strategic growth area from land that is actually within the allocation and capable of participating in its masterplan. See access and highways and utilities and infrastructure.

Swadlincote, including Woodville, Church Gresley, Newhall and nearby urban neighbourhoods, is the principal urban area in the settlement hierarchy. The adopted strategy already includes major sites at William Nadin Way, Church Street and Broomy Farm, while Woodville contains a separate regeneration allocation. The housing pipeline, local centre capacity and relationship with existing permissions must be understood before another parcel is assumed to meet an unmet town need.

The former pottery, clay, coal and industrial landscape creates both opportunity and cost. Bottle kilns, conservation interests, made ground, mine workings, contamination and former employment uses can influence layout and remediation. National Forest policy can require woodland creation, green infrastructure and a strong landscape framework, reducing the residential or commercial net area while improving placemaking. The brownfield-land guide, heritage guide and landscape guide explain those value effects.

Drakelow Park is a major adopted housing allocation beside Burton upon Trent, with a total capacity exceeding 2,200 homes and substantial delivery already completed or under construction. Later phases depend on reserved-matters approvals, the Walton-on-Trent bypass, schools, local facilities and other infrastructure. A neighbouring parcel should not be valued as a simple extension where the existing allocation already carries a long delivery programme and defined mitigation package.

The emerging STRA3 policy identifies the south-western part of the former Drakelow Power Station as a strategic employment location. High-voltage transmission lines, substations, former power infrastructure, contamination, floodplain and river-corridor issues can all influence usable floorspace and abnormal cost. Market demand may be connected to Burton, but South Derbyshire remains the planning authority for land inside the district. The Burton upon Trent guide and East Staffordshire Borough guide cover the adjoining market and authority.

Etwall, Hilton and Hatton are Key Service Villages with significant housing delivery, while Findern is a Local Service Village and Egginton and Burnaston sit within the rural tier. The A50 and A38 create strong links to Derby, Stoke, the M1, Toyota at Burnaston and East Midlands Airport. Hatton and Willington stations add rail accessibility, but the value of a site still depends on a lawful access, junction capacity, walking and cycling connections and the effect of committed growth.

The emerging plan allocates land at Egginton Common for the East Midlands Intermodal Park, a strategic rail-freight interchange and East Midlands Freeport tax site. Because it would be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, development consent is expected to be determined nationally rather than through an ordinary district planning application. Freeport status applies to the defined site; it does not automatically extend to nearby land. Rail alignment, A50 access, strategic transport contributions, power, drainage, landscape buffers and third-party ownership remain central to value. The East Midlands guide provides the wider regional context.

Melbourne, Repton, Shardlow and Aston-on-Trent are Key Service Villages, but their market strength does not remove settlement-boundary, heritage, landscape and highway constraints. Melbourne and Repton have particularly sensitive historic form and settings, while Shardlow’s canal and river heritage, the Trent floodplain and proximity to transport infrastructure require a different assessment from a conventional village-edge field.

South Derbyshire contains two separate Green Belt geographies. The Nottingham–Derby Green Belt affects the north-east of the district around Elvaston, Thulston, Ambaston and the edge of Shardlow. The Burton–Swadlincote Green Belt preserves separation between those two urban areas around Stanton and Bretby. A parcel must be checked against the adopted and emerging policies map before any grey-belt argument is considered. Green Belt, settlement boundary and countryside are not interchangeable labels. See building on Green Belt land and settlement boundaries.