Terms & Conditions

1 Introduction

These Terms & Conditions apply to your use of the Value My Land website, including our land valuation forms, calculators, Land Development Assessment Tool, generated reports and free desktop assessment service. Please read them before using these services. By using the website you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the website or its tools.

These Terms apply to individuals and business users. Any separate agreement for further professional or land-promotion services will govern those services. Nothing in these Terms removes any rights you have under applicable consumer law.

Important: An automated assessment is an initial check, not confirmation that land can be developed or a formal valuation. Gross Development Value (GDV) is not the value of the land. The specific limitations of the assessment tool are set out in section 5.

2 About Us

Strategic Land & Acquisition Limited t/a Value My Land ("we", "us" or "our") provides land-related information, automated assessment tools and indicative valuation calculations using information supplied by users and public or other third-party data sources. We also provide the free desktop review described in section 7.

3 Use of the Website

You may use this website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not use it in a way that may damage, disable or impair the website or interfere with another person’s use of it. You must not introduce malicious software, attempt unauthorised access, bypass security measures or deliberately overload the website or its data services.

The tools may be used by landowners, prospective purchasers, businesses and advisers for preliminary assessment of their own land interests or those of their clients. You must describe your connection to the land honestly. If you act on another person’s behalf, you must have their authority to do so and be entitled to provide any information you submit.

4 Automated Valuations and Estimates

Automated valuations and estimates are generated using available data, calculations and assumptions. They are provided for general information and preliminary appraisal only. In particular:

• The underlying information may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated or unavailable, and outputs may contain errors.
• Generating an automated result does not include a site visit, survey, individual professional review or formal valuation.
• Any land-value or development-value estimate depends on its stated assumptions. It is not an offer to buy the land, an agreed sale price or a guarantee of a future value.
• A development-value illustration does not, by itself, establish the land’s current market value or account for all planning risks, costs or site-specific circumstances.

The Land Development Assessment Tool’s GDV calculation is distinct from a land valuation. Its calculation basis is explained in section 5.7. A separately requested desktop review is different from the automated output and is addressed in section 7.

5 Land Development Assessment Tool

5.1 Purpose and scope

The free Land Development Assessment Tool is designed for land in England. It combines your answers and drawn site boundary with selected mapping and data searches to identify possible development opportunities, constraints and matters requiring investigation. It includes planning and environmental screening, infrastructure and station-related checks, illustrative housing capacity, potential GDV, nearby new-build sales information and an assessment summary that can be printed or saved.

Results such as “Strong Indicators”, “Mixed Indicators” and “Important Matters to Investigate” are automated screening categories, not a measured probability of obtaining planning permission. A positive result does not establish that development is acceptable, viable or deliverable. An adverse result does not establish that development is impossible.

5.2 Your answers, site boundary and measurements

Provide information accurately and to the best of your knowledge, and choose “Not sure” where appropriate. The tool does not independently verify every answer. Incorrect, incomplete or outdated answers, an unsuitable postcode or an inaccurate boundary can materially change the result.

You do not have to own land to carry out an initial assessment. Drawing a boundary or submitting details does not prove ownership, control, consent to development or authority to act for an owner. Boundaries, areas, distances and mapped title extents are approximate, not surveyed measurements or evidence of legal boundaries, rights of access, easements or restrictions. The council identified from a postcode may not be the authority responsible for the whole site, particularly near administrative boundaries.

5.3 Mapping, data coverage and incomplete searches

The tool uses selected information from sources such as the Environment Agency, government Planning Data, Historic England, Natural England, Defra, the British Geological Survey, the Office for National Statistics, HM Land Registry and OpenStreetMap. Coverage, detail, accuracy and update dates differ. Using an official source does not mean that the source provider has reviewed or endorsed our assessment.

A blank map, missing result, “no matching records” message or absence of a warning does not confirm that the land is free from constraints. A search may not have run, may be incomplete or unavailable, or may exclude records because of coverage, distance, record limits, map scale or technical errors. Some map layers are for context only, are loaded on demand or do not contribute to the assessment outcome.

The summary may show only selected findings rather than every returned record or unsuccessful check. Important matters must be verified using current source records and appropriate professional investigations. A retrieval or report date does not establish when the underlying information was surveyed or updated. Cached, saved and printed results may become outdated and are not automatically revised when data, policy or site circumstances change.

5.4 Planning, environmental and technical limitations

The tool is not a complete review of planning history, the development plan, all material planning considerations or every constraint on or near the site. It is not a council search, title investigation, flood-risk assessment, ecological survey, heritage assessment, agricultural land survey, ground investigation, highways appraisal or utility search.

The automatic flood-zone calculation concerns selected river and sea flood-zone data. Surface-water and other flood layers shown on the map are not necessarily incorporated into that calculation or the overall outcome. Flood Zone 1, or no displayed flood warning, does not mean that land cannot flood. Other sources of flooding, drainage, climate change and the proposed development require separate consideration.

Environmental and geological mapping cannot establish actual ground conditions, protected species, agricultural land grade or all heritage effects. Nearby infrastructure does not confirm its precise position, spare capacity or a right to connect. Access, visibility, noise, contamination, legal restrictions and other site-specific matters may need surveys and specialist advice. Features outside a search area can still affect a site.

5.5 Railway-station and national planning policy checks

Any railway-station or National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) result is an initial screening of selected criteria. The mapped station position and 800-metre catchment are approximate and use straight-line distance, not a verified walking route to a usable station entrance. They do not confirm safe access, rights of way, accessibility or the absence of physical obstacles.

Economic-area and service-frequency results depend on the information available to the tool. Timetable checks require suitable evidence to be connected and matched to the station. “Confirmed” or similar wording relates only to the specific checks performed; it is not confirmation that the land meets every policy requirement or will receive planning permission. Policy wording, its status, definitions, exceptions, current services and evidence for proposed improvements must be checked separately. Any density figure shown is not a site-capacity assessment.

5.6 Estimated housing capacity

At the date of these Terms, the starting assumptions are a net developable area of 60% of the gross site area and 30 homes per net developable hectare, unless the relevant inputs are changed. These are illustrative assumptions, not a designed layout or an assessment of the amount of land actually suitable for building.

The estimate does not automatically deduct every mapped constraint or verify the land needed for access, drainage, open space, biodiversity, infrastructure or other requirements. A station-related density result does not automatically replace the GDV calculator’s starting capacity assumption. The net area, number of homes, housing mix and achievable density need site-specific assessment; manually entered figures are not verified by the tool.

5.7 Potential Gross Development Value (GDV)

GDV is not the value of the land itself. The calculation multiplies the total number of homes by the average private sale value entered or supplied as a benchmark. It illustrates the potential total sale value of a completed development, assuming those homes can be built and sold at that value. It is not a formal valuation, profit forecast or guaranteed receipt.

This simplified calculation does not itself adjust for affordable housing or other tenures, or deduct planning and professional fees, legal costs, infrastructure and servicing, construction, abnormal site costs, planning obligations, finance, developer profit, taxes or other relevant costs. These matters, the realistic development capacity and planning risk must be assessed before a potential land value can be established.

5.8 House-price benchmarks and nearby sales

An automatically supplied HM Land Registry UK House Price Index figure is a local-authority new-build benchmark, rounded for use in the calculator. It is not a valuation of the proposed homes or site-specific comparable evidence. It may relate to different property types and an earlier period. You should check its suitability before using it; figures you enter or override are your own assumptions.

At the date of these Terms, the nearby-sales feature searches up to 100 nearby postcodes within approximately 3 kilometres of the site centre, or the entered postcode location where no boundary is available, for recorded new-build sales in the preceding 24 months. Search and display limits apply, with up to 25 matching records displayed. Distances are based on postcode locations rather than surveyed property positions.

The results are not an exhaustive list of sales and may be affected by missing records, registration delays, revisions and the search limits. Recorded prices are historical transactions, not asking prices or confirmation of what proposed homes will sell for. A result containing no sales does not mean that no relevant transactions have taken place.

6 No Formal Valuation or Advice from Automated Results

General website information and automated results do not constitute a formal valuation or individual professional, financial, planning, property, legal, tax or investment advice. They are not a recommendation to buy, sell, promote or develop land, or confirmation that any consent, allocation, funding or sale will be obtained.

Do not use an automated result as a substitute for site-specific due diligence or as the basis for a purchase, sale, planning application, development commitment, lending decision or tax assessment. Obtain appropriate professional advice and verify the relevant information before committing money or taking action.

These limitations concern automated outputs and general website material. They do not negate advice we expressly agree to provide, the scope of a desktop review described below, any binding service commitment or any obligation to exercise reasonable care and skill.

7 Desktop Reviews — No Appointment or Obligation to Proceed

When you submit your assessment through the free full desktop assessment form, we will use the information supplied to undertake the advertised desktop review of the land’s development potential and contact you about it. This is separate from the automated result. We may need further information to complete the review or explain matters that cannot be resolved from the available records.

The review is desk-based, using your submission and available records. It does not include a site visit, measured survey, specialist technical investigation, full legal-title investigation or formal valuation unless separately agreed. We will explain significant assumptions and limitations in our review. A fuller desk-based opinion is not a guarantee of planning permission, development capacity, viability or land value.

The automated tool and the desktop review advertised as free carry no fee or subscription and do not oblige you to proceed further. Using the website, receiving a report or submitting an enquiry does not, by itself, appoint us as your land promoter, estate agent, solicitor or other professional representative, grant us rights over the land or authorise a submission to a council on your behalf. It is not an offer by us to purchase or fund development of the land.

Any further appointment, promotion agreement, authority to act, fee or payment obligation must be separately agreed with you. These website-use terms still apply; this section does not deny the existence of a contract for a service we have agreed to provide, remove a binding promise about that service or affect your statutory rights.

8 Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. Your statutory rights, including any applicable right to services performed with reasonable care and skill, are unaffected.

We remain responsible for fulfilling binding commitments we make and for exercising reasonable care and skill where required. The descriptions of the tools’ scope and limitations do not excuse a failure to meet those obligations.

Consumer users: If you are an individual acting wholly or mainly outside your trade, business, craft or profession, we are responsible for reasonably foreseeable loss or damage caused by our breach of these Terms or our negligence. Loss is reasonably foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence or was reasonably contemplated by you and us at the relevant time. We are not responsible for loss that was not reasonably foreseeable.

Business users only: Subject to the first paragraph of this section, we exclude liability for indirect or consequential loss and for loss of profit, revenue, business opportunity or anticipated savings arising from use of the automated tools or general website information. This business-only exclusion does not apply to consumers or replace the terms of a separately agreed professional appointment.

We are not responsible for loss caused solely by inaccurate information you provide or circumstances outside our control where our breach, negligence or other fault has not caused or contributed to that loss. Reliance on a third-party data source does not remove responsibility for our own acts or omissions.

The website and external data services may be temporarily unavailable because of maintenance, faults or outages. We do not promise uninterrupted availability or that every source will return a result. This does not remove any statutory rights or our responsibilities for services already agreed. Please contact us if you believe a result or service is incorrect.

9 Intellectual Property and Use of Reports

The Value My Land name, logos and other branding are brand assets of Strategic Land & Acquisition Limited and are protected by intellectual property rights. UK trade mark numbers associated with the Value My Land branding include UK00004325235 and UK00004310786. Rights in our original website content, software and report presentation belong to us or our licensors. Third-party material remains subject to its own ownership and licence terms.

You may use the tools for the preliminary purposes described in section 3, and print, save or share complete, unaltered assessment reports with the relevant landowner, your client and professional advisers for discussion and further investigation. Retain the assumptions, limitations, dates and source acknowledgements. Sharing a report does not turn it into advice addressed to the recipient or a formal valuation.

You must not present an automated report as council approval, a verified development capacity or a professional valuation, or alter or selectively reproduce it in a misleading way. Except for the uses permitted above or rights granted by law or an applicable licence, you need our permission to resell our proprietary reports, reproduce our software or use our branding to imply endorsement.

These restrictions do not limit reuse rights granted directly under third-party licences, including the Open Government Licence v3.0 or the licence identified in OpenStreetMap’s copyright information, where applicable. Check the licence for the particular material and retain any required attribution. We do not claim ownership of information you supply or of underlying third-party data.

10 Privacy and Browser Storage

We handle personal data in accordance with applicable data-protection law and our Privacy Policy. Please also read our Cookie Policy for information about cookies and similar technologies. These Terms do not replace those notices.

To carry out map and data searches, the tool makes requests to external providers. Depending on the search, these requests can include a postcode, geographical coordinates, the drawn boundary or search area, together with technical connection information. Such requests can occur before you submit the optional desktop-review form.

The tool uses browser session storage to retain assessment progress, including site details, answers, boundaries, results and calculation inputs. Reset Assessment clears the tool’s saved progress in that browser session. It does not delete information already submitted to us, reports you have saved or records held by external providers.

When you submit the desktop-review form, the submission includes your contact details and the assessment information, including the site boundary, summary, calculation information and screening results. We use the submission to review the land and respond to your enquiry, as explained in our privacy information.

Agreeing to these Terms or acknowledging a privacy notice is not blanket consent to unrelated marketing or non-essential cookies or similar technologies. Where consent is required, it must be obtained separately for the relevant purpose. Your data-protection rights are not waived by using the tool.

11 Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect changes to the website, tools, services, data sources or legal requirements. Revised Terms will be posted here with an updated date and apply to future use after they have been made available. Please check the version applying when you use the tools.

Changes do not retrospectively alter rights or liabilities arising from earlier use, or the terms of a desktop review or other service already agreed. Any change to an existing separate appointment must follow that agreement and applicable law.

12 Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, except where applicable consumer law provides otherwise. This does not deprive a consumer of mandatory protections under the law of their country of residence or any right to bring proceedings in their local courts.

13 Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms, email info@valuemyland.com or write to Value My Land, 13 Ensign Business Centre, Westwood Way, Coventry, CV4 8JA.

14 Disclaimer

Important notice: Automated assessments, maps, estimates and reports provide an initial indication only. They may be incomplete or inaccurate, do not identify every constraint and are not a formal valuation or confirmation that development is achievable. GDV is the illustrative gross value of a completed development, not the value of the land or the profit from developing it.

Use the information to identify matters for further investigation, not as a substitute for appropriate site-specific advice, records and surveys. Keep these limitations with any report you share. This notice must be read with the service distinctions in section 7 and the liability safeguards in section 8; it does not override our binding service commitments or your statutory rights.