Planning for housing on farmland – 6 steps to success

Colin Muller is the CEO of Muller Property.

With government policy focused on ensuring local authorities deliver on their new home targets and committed to driving economic development, if your land is on the edge of town, it may have unrealised potential.

Whereas agricultural land has a value of £8,000 – £12,000 per acre, the same land with a residential housing consent can achieve 30, 40 or even 50 times that value.

But how does the planning system work and how can you give your land the best chance of getting that valuable planning consent?

1. Get your land assessed

You’ll want to make sure it meets some essential criteria before you consider pursuing any development plans. Muller can do this for you with a no obligation appraisal within 24 hours.

Your land should be on the edge of a settlement, as this is typically where any new development will take place, and is where urban planners will be looking to in order to expand villages and towns.

Ideally, your land won’t be in the green belt, or any other area of protected natural beauty. Whilst not impossible to overcome, these policy restrictions will likely limit the potential of your land.

2. Size matters

Land size is also important. If you’d like to consider the potential for a residential development, you’ll need to have a minimum of 3 acres of suitable land for the Council’s interest to be sparked into considering it for allocation in a new local plan.

3. Don’t delay

If the sale of all, or part, of your land is of interest you cannot afford to wait around as there is work to be done.

Every local authority has an extensive list of requirements that must be fulfilled and regulations that have to be adhered to. It’s a matter of persuading them that your land is both suitable and available for development, and that you can deliver what they require – housing and employment.

This requires skilled promotion and takes time. You must get your cap into the ring, but you must also show off all the great qualities of your land, to get it front of the Council’s mind when they come to review their Local Plan.

4. Local Plan reviews

Councils have a requirement to review their Local Plan every 20 years. We know the current position for all Council areas so can advise you of what’s happening in your area.

Timing is crucial in order to get your land in front of the Council as it is their job to identify land for housing and employment. Normally the Council announce a ‘call for sites’ aimed at stimulating landowners, farmers, agents, developers and promoters to submit sites for consideration.

We would suggest getting your land ready and in front of the Council well in advance of any review being announced – that way you are ahead of the game.

5. The Housing Delivery Test

This is relatively new and is a measure of how local authorities are performing in their delivery of new housing. Those with a poor result, and there are currently 29 on the list, have to come up with an action plan to improve their delivery. They may have to identify land for development and their local planning policies could be overridden meaning that prospects of achieving outline planning consent are enhanced.

You can read more here and see if your local authority is one of the 29.

6. Take expert advice

It may not be easy to promote your land but an experienced land promotion company can offer expert advice.

The process is not cheap either but one of the advantages of using a land promotion company is that they can fully expense these costs for you.

Find out more here.