Submit Your Land
What “Land Wanted for Development” Means
Value My Land reviews land that may be capable of residential, commercial, employment or mixed-use development now or through a longer-term planning strategy.
“Land wanted” does not mean that land must already have planning permission or that every site will be purchased immediately. Our work begins by identifying whether land may have a credible development route and whether the planning opportunity is strong enough to justify further promotion, technical assessment or an application.
Many suitable opportunities are agricultural fields, paddocks, gardens, redundant premises or underused commercial land that have never been formally assessed. Some adjoin a town or village and may be capable of an application. Others need to be submitted through a Call for Sites, assessed in a HELAA or SHLAA and promoted through a Local Plan review before development is supported.
We consider the complete site rather than relying on one map designation. Location, settlement relationship, access, planning policy, flood risk, drainage, ecology, landscape, heritage, utilities, ownership and market demand all influence whether the land is worth progressing.
The initial assessment is free and without obligation. A postcode, map pin, what3words location or plan showing the approximate boundary is normally enough for us to begin reviewing the planning authority, policy position and principal constraints.
Land Does Not Need
The purpose of the first review is to distinguish an immediate development opportunity from a longer-term promotion opportunity and from land where further work is not presently justified.
Types of Opportunity
Land We Are Interested in Reviewing
Development opportunities arise from many ownerships and existing uses. The planning potential depends on the site’s circumstances rather than its current label alone.
Agricultural and Greenfield Land
Fields, paddocks and farmland adjoining or relating well to an existing settlement may be suitable for housing, employment or mixed-use promotion.
Settlement-Edge Land
Land forming a logical extension to a town or village can benefit from nearby services, transport and infrastructure, subject to planning and landscape considerations.
Brownfield and Previously Developed Land
Former industrial, commercial, institutional or other developed sites may support redevelopment where access, contamination, heritage and viability can be addressed.
Gardens and Backland
Large gardens, side land and land behind existing properties can sometimes accommodate development where access, privacy, character and layout are acceptable.
Redundant Buildings and Premises
Disused agricultural, commercial or community buildings may offer conversion, redevelopment or comprehensive site opportunities.
Commercial and Employment Land
Sites with access to strategic roads, settlements, labour and utilities may be suitable for industrial, logistics, storage, office or other employment uses.
Mixed-Use Land
Larger sites may combine housing, employment, community facilities, open space and infrastructure within a coordinated development strategy.
Land in Several Ownerships
Adjoining parcels can sometimes create a stronger and more deliverable site when owners cooperate over access, infrastructure, planning and sale.
Unallocated or Constrained Land
Land outside a settlement boundary, within the Green Belt or affected by technical constraints should be assessed before being dismissed because policy and site circumstances can change.
Initial Site Screening
The Main Characteristics We Review
No single factor guarantees planning success. A credible development site normally performs reasonably across location, policy, access, constraints and deliverability.
Location
The relationship with a town or village, proximity to services, employment, schools and public transport and the way development would connect with the existing place.
Planning Policy
Adopted and emerging Local Plans, settlement boundaries, allocations, Green Belt, countryside policies, housing need and current plan-making opportunities.
Access and Highways
Road frontage, visibility, junction feasibility, pedestrian and cycle links, traffic effects and ownership of any land needed for improvements.
Site Capacity
The amount of land that remains developable after roads, drainage, ecology, landscape, open space, utilities and other infrastructure are allowed for.
Environmental Constraints
Flood risk, drainage, habitats, protected species, landscape sensitivity, trees, heritage, archaeology and ground conditions.
Utilities and Infrastructure
Electricity, water, sewerage, drainage, digital connections, schools, healthcare, transport and the cost of necessary upgrades.
Ownership and Availability
A willing landowner, clear title, suitable access rights, manageable tenancies and cooperation between any adjoining owners.
Achievability and Market
Development costs, planning obligations, demand, finance, phasing and whether there is a realistic prospect of delivery within the relevant period.
A visible constraint does not always prevent development. The question is whether it affects the whole site, whether it can be avoided or mitigated and whether the remaining development is viable and well related to the settlement.
Size and Capacity
There Is No Single Minimum Acreage for Development Land
The appropriate scale depends on the use, location, access, constraints and type of planning opportunity rather than a universal site-size threshold.
A small urban or village infill parcel may accommodate one or several homes. A larger settlement-edge field may support a residential scheme with roads, drainage, open space and landscaping. Employment and mixed-use developments can require different plot depths, access arrangements, service yards, parking and infrastructure.
Gross acreage should not be treated as the development area. Parts of the land may be needed for visibility splays, estate roads, sustainable drainage, landscape buffers, habitat retention, public open space, utilities and community facilities. The net developable area and suitable density determine the realistic capacity.
Larger strategic sites may take longer to promote and can depend on schools, transport improvements, utility reinforcement or cooperation with neighbouring land. Their scale can nevertheless make it possible to fund major infrastructure and create a comprehensive development that a smaller parcel could not support.
Very small or narrow parcels should still be considered in context. They may provide access to a larger site, complete an ownership boundary or combine with neighbouring land. Conversely, a large isolated ownership with no sustainable relationship or viable access may have limited development prospects despite its acreage.
Capacity Depends On
Planning Status
Land Does Not Have to Be Allocated or Have Permission
Many development opportunities begin before the land appears in a Local Plan allocation or planning application.
An existing allocation or permission can provide valuable policy certainty, but it is not the only route. An unallocated site may be capable of a planning application where it accords with policy, forms acceptable infill or benefits from material considerations such as an inadequate housing land supply or poor housing delivery.
Where an immediate application is not appropriate, land can be submitted through a Call for Sites and assessed within a HELAA or SHLAA. The council considers whether the site is suitable, available and achievable. Inclusion in an evidence base is not an allocation, but it can establish that the land is being considered within the plan-making process.
Local Plan promotion may involve representations at several consultation stages, technical evidence, engagement with officers and responses to competing site assessments. Settlement strategies, housing requirements, employment needs and infrastructure plans can all change while a plan is prepared.
The appropriate route is site-specific. A free initial review can identify the relevant planning authority, current Local Plan stage, open land-submission opportunities and whether the land appears suited to an application or longer-term promotion.
Planning Application
An immediate route may be available where policy and site circumstances provide a reasonable basis for permission.
Call for Sites
The land can be submitted when the council invites potential housing, employment or mixed-use sites.
HELAA or SHLAA
The authority assesses suitability, availability and achievability before deciding which land may inform its strategy.
Local Plan Allocation
Promotion can seek policy support for a defined use and scale of development through the plan-making process.
Potential Development Uses
Residential, Commercial, Employment and Mixed-Use Opportunities
The most appropriate use depends on policy, location, demand, access, neighbouring development and infrastructure rather than the landowner’s preferred value alone.
Residential development is often most appropriate where land relates well to an existing settlement and residents can reach everyday services, schools, employment and transport. The scale and type of housing should respond to local need, character, landscape and infrastructure. Affordable housing and planning obligations also influence viability and land value.
Commercial and employment uses may suit land close to strategic roads, urban areas, established employment locations or a workforce catchment. Access for larger vehicles, servicing, utilities, noise, neighbouring homes and market demand can be more influential than proximity to local shops or schools.
Mixed-use development can help larger sites create balanced communities and share infrastructure. Housing may be combined with employment, local facilities, open space, schools or transport improvements. The land must be large enough and the market strong enough to support a coordinated phasing strategy.
Some land may have potential for community, infrastructure or other uses even where conventional housing is difficult. The initial review should remain open to the use that fits the planning and market context rather than assuming that every site should become a housing estate.
Housing
Settlement relationship, services, access, landscape, housing need, affordable housing and community infrastructure are central.
Commercial and Employment
Strategic access, workforce, servicing, utilities, neighbouring uses and occupier demand shape the opportunity.
Mixed Use
Larger sites can combine homes, employment, facilities, open space and infrastructure through phased delivery.
Other Appropriate Uses
The planning context may support community, infrastructure or another use where it meets an evidenced need.
Constraints and Opportunities
Do Not Dismiss Land Because of One Designation or Map Layer
Green Belt, flood risk, ecology, landscape, heritage, contamination or utilities can be important, but their effect must be understood at site level.
Green Belt is a major planning policy constraint, but boundaries can be reviewed through a Local Plan and individual parcels make different contributions to Green Belt purposes. Grey Belt policy and other recognised routes may also be relevant in particular circumstances. A designation should be assessed carefully rather than treated as a promise or an automatic refusal.
Flood risk can affect only part of a site. Development may be directed to lower-risk land while higher-risk areas provide open space, habitat or sustainable drainage, subject to the sequential approach and technical evidence. Surface water and foul drainage require assessment even where the land lies within Flood Zone 1.
Ecology, landscape and heritage frequently influence the layout and capacity rather than preventing all development. Hedgerows, ponds, mature trees, heritage settings and sensitive views may require buffers, retention, lower density and new green infrastructure. Early survey work can distinguish manageable constraints from fundamental limitations.
Contamination, mining, topography, utilities and abnormal infrastructure can affect viability. A site may remain technically developable but produce insufficient value after remediation or major network upgrades. The planning and commercial assessments therefore need to be considered together.
A Review Can Establish
England-Wide Assessment
Every Site Is Reviewed Against Its Own Local Planning Context
Value My Land reviews opportunities across England, using the relevant authority’s adopted plan, emerging strategy and evidence rather than applying a generic national conclusion.
Local Plan Stage
A recently adopted plan presents different opportunities from an authority beginning a new plan, consulting on options or approaching examination.
Housing and Employment Need
The amount and type of land required influences whether additional sites, settlement extensions or employment locations must be identified.
Settlement Strategy
Councils distribute growth differently between cities, towns, villages and rural areas based on services, infrastructure and policy objectives.
Evidence Base
HELAA, Green Belt, landscape, transport, flood, infrastructure and viability studies can materially affect the assessment of individual sites.
Current Opportunities
Open Calls for Sites, consultations, neighbourhood plans and evidence updates can create time-sensitive routes for landowners to participate.
Development Market
Values, occupier demand, build costs and infrastructure viability differ between locations and influence what can realistically be delivered.
A national policy change can create an opportunity, but it must still be applied through the Local Plan, evidence and particular characteristics of the land.
Our Promotion Model
How We Fund and Manage the Promotion Process
Where we agree that a site is suitable for promotion, our usual model aligns our return with a successful planning and sale outcome.
The landowner retains ownership while we agree and manage the planning strategy. Depending on the site, this can include Local Plan monitoring, Call for Sites submissions, representations, planning applications, technical assessments, masterplanning and negotiations with the planning authority.
We appoint and coordinate the consultant team and fund the agreed planning and promotion work at our own cost and risk. Under this model, the landowner does not pay upfront consultant, application or promotion costs. Expenditure, responsibilities, approvals and the treatment of costs are documented within the promotion agreement.
If the strategy secures the agreed planning outcome, the land is prepared for a competitive marketing exercise. Developers can assess the permission, technical information and sale particulars and submit offers. Competition and clear information help establish the best available balance of price, certainty and completion terms.
Our agreed fee and recoverable promotion costs are paid from the sale proceeds in accordance with the agreement. If the agreed promotion is unsuccessful, the planning expenditure risk is carried by us rather than being invoiced to the landowner. The exact structure is explained before any agreement is signed.
Free Initial Review
We identify the authority, policy position, settlement relationship and principal opportunities and constraints.
Agreed Strategy
The landowner and Value My Land agree the planning route, responsibilities, protections and commercial terms.
Funded Promotion
We fund and manage the agreed consultant, planning and Local Plan work at our own cost and risk.
Marketing and Sale
Following planning success, the land is marketed competitively and our agreed fee is paid from sale proceeds.
Information Needed
Submitting Land for Review Is Straightforward
You do not need to commission reports or prepare a formal planning submission before asking us to look at the opportunity.
The location and boundary are the most important starting points. We can then identify the planning authority, adopted and emerging Local Plans, settlement relationship, planning designations, flood information and visible site features.
A title plan, planning history, survey or previous proposal can be useful but is not essential. Please do not incur consultant or application expenditure solely to obtain an initial response from us. The first review is intended to identify whether more detailed work appears justified.
Where land has already been approached by a developer or promoter, include the letter, site plan, price information or proposed heads of terms. We can then consider the planning opportunity alongside the structure being offered. Read our guide on what to do when a developer has approached you.
Information submitted through the website is used to consider the land and respond to the enquiry in accordance with the website’s privacy information. The free review creates no obligation to sell or enter into a promotion agreement.
Continue Your Research
Related Guides
These guides explain the planning, valuation, technical and contractual subjects that sit alongside this page without duplicating its main purpose.
Is My Land Suitable for Development?
Review planning policy, location, access, constraints, infrastructure and deliverability together.
Click hereTypes of Development Land
Compare greenfield, brownfield, strategic, Green Belt, Grey Belt and other development land categories.
Click hereWhy Location Matters
Understand how settlement relationships, services, transport, neighbouring uses and market context influence potential.
Click hereAccess and Highways
Learn how road frontage, visibility, pedestrian links, traffic and access ownership affect development.
Click herePlanning Policy and Development Land
See how national policy, Local Plans, allocations and settlement boundaries shape planning opportunities.
Click hereCall for Sites Guide
Find out how land can be submitted when a council seeks potential housing, employment or mixed-use sites.
Click hereLocal Plan Allocation Guide
Understand how councils assess, compare and select land for future development through plan-making.
Click hereCommercial and Employment Development Land
Review location, access, utilities, market demand and planning considerations for employment uses.
Click hereHow Value My Land Works With Landowners
Follow the process from free review and funded promotion through planning, marketing and sale.
Click hereFrequently Asked Questions About Land Wanted for Development
What types of land is Value My Land looking for?
We review agricultural fields, paddocks, settlement-edge land, gardens, brownfield sites, redundant premises, commercial or employment land, mixed-use opportunities and land held in several ownerships.
The current use is only one factor. Location, access, policy, constraints, infrastructure and deliverability determine whether a site deserves further assessment.
Does my land need planning permission?
No. Many enquiries concern land with no planning history. The initial review considers whether an immediate planning application, Call for Sites submission, HELAA or SHLAA assessment or longer-term Local Plan promotion may be appropriate.
Existing permission can increase certainty but is not a requirement for contacting us.
Does the land need to be allocated in the Local Plan?
No. Unallocated land can still have potential. It may be capable of permission in the right circumstances or may be promoted for a future allocation through the plan-making process.
The adopted plan, emerging strategy, housing or employment need and site characteristics must be considered together.
Is there a minimum site size?
There is no universal minimum. A small infill parcel may support one or several homes, while larger settlement-edge or employment sites need enough land for access, drainage, open space, landscaping and infrastructure.
The shape, frontage, location and relationship with adjoining land can be as important as acreage.
Can agricultural land be considered?
Yes. Agricultural land can be reviewed for housing, employment or mixed-use development. Agricultural use does not prevent planning permission, although land quality, countryside policy, settlement relationship and environmental effects are relevant.
The landowner does not need to stop farming or change the current use merely to request an initial assessment.
Can Green Belt land be submitted?
Yes, it can be reviewed, but Green Belt is a significant policy constraint and development is not automatically acceptable. Opportunities may arise through a Local Plan boundary review, recognised policy routes or site-specific circumstances.
The land’s contribution to Green Belt purposes, settlement relationship, accessibility and constraints require careful assessment.
Do you consider brownfield land?
Yes. Previously developed land can offer redevelopment opportunities, particularly where it relates well to settlements and existing infrastructure.
Contamination, demolition, heritage, access, viability and the status of existing buildings must be assessed before capacity or value is assumed.
Do you review commercial or employment development land?
Yes. Land may be suitable for industrial, logistics, storage, office or other employment uses where planning policy, strategic access, workforce, utilities, servicing and market demand support the proposal.
The appropriate use can differ from residential development and requires its own capacity and viability assessment.
Can land in several ownerships be promoted?
Yes, where the owners can cooperate and the combined site creates a credible planning and delivery opportunity. Access, infrastructure, open space and development value may be distributed unevenly between parcels.
A collaboration or equalisation arrangement may be needed to regulate decisions, costs and proceeds.
What if the land has poor or narrow access?
Access difficulties can materially limit development, but they should be assessed rather than assumed. An existing entrance may be widened, an alternative point may be available or adjoining land may provide a solution.
Visibility, highway capacity, pedestrian links and ownership of the required access land are all relevant.
Can flood risk, ecology or landscape prevent consideration?
Serious constraints can prevent or reduce development, but many affect only part of a site or can be addressed through layout and mitigation. Higher-risk land may provide drainage, open space or habitat while development is focused elsewhere.
The initial review identifies whether specialist evidence is likely to be worthwhile.
Is the initial land review free?
Yes. The initial review is free and without obligation. It normally uses available planning, mapping and site information to identify the principal opportunity and constraints.
You do not need to commission a survey package or pay an application fee before contacting us.
Do I retain ownership during land promotion?
Under our usual promotion model, the landowner retains ownership while Value My Land funds and manages the agreed planning strategy. The detailed agreement regulates access, decisions, expenditure, marketing and sale.
Ownership transfers only through the eventual sale or another transaction agreed by the landowner.
Do I have to sell immediately after contacting you?
No. Contacting us and receiving an initial review creates no obligation to sell or sign an agreement. Some sites are longer-term opportunities and may remain in their current use while planning policy evolves.
Any promotion or sale arrangement is discussed and documented separately.
What information should I provide?
A postcode, map pin, what3words reference or plan showing the approximate boundary is normally enough to start. An estimated area and short description of the current use are helpful.
Include planning references, title plans, approach letters, access information or tenancy details where available, but they are not essential for the first review.