Are you tempted to sell your land with promises of rich rewards and a lifestyle beyond compare?  It’s a fact that the biggest gains are made by transforming a piece of land without planning permission, into one with planning permission.

Selling potential residential development sites is a complex and often daunting prospect for landowners, as the process can be lengthy and involve numerous parties. It is also highly competitive as land with planning permission is at a premium.

Land & Brand New Homes are leading land agents in the South East, we have been in existence since 1991, specialising in the promotion of strategic land, working with both vendors and developers.

Selling Your Land

If your landholding has a registered Title, due consideration must be given at an early stage, as in the past, covenants may have been imposed prohibiting your landholding’s redevelopment.

We offer discrete marketing of land sites, which is the reason why you won’t find our land sales on the property portals.  Each site is custom-marketed to those developers who are active in the market at any given time.

The demand for new housing is constantly in the spotlight, with regular reports from the Government detailing the hundreds of thousands of properties required for an increasing number of households.

Developers continue to seek land for brand-new home development potential. A little short of 220,000 new dwellings were added to the housing stock in 2017, and still, the country is not delivering enough supply.

The reality is that selling land can be a frustrating, exhausting process.

How To Start Selling Land

Maybe you have a small piece of land of a third of an acre or something more substantial, of 5-20 acres. And you’ve been thinking for some time that your land might interest developers. You know that your local council needs more land for house-building and perhaps you’ve been talking to friends and family about ‘making some money’ for your future, for your children or grandchildren, or simply as a pension.

Call or Email our experienced Land Agent Team in confidence today!

How To Sell Your Land in Eleven Steps

Do you want to know how much your land is worth before making the decision to sell, but you’re not really sure where to start?

We’re going to share our eleven steps to help you in planning to sell your land so you get it right the first time.

Take these steps one at a time, and whilst selling your land may become a long journey, you’ll be sure you’ve sold to the right buyer at the right price.

Central Government has imposed substantial numbers of new housing, which are in the main to be constructed within a five-year period. Each County Council will have a proportion of these numbers served upon them.

Very often sites are promoted where the owner’s landholding sits alongside existing settlements or alternatively redundant buildings, which may well prove the case for residential development.

In general, the planning system is somewhat obtuse, as decisions invariably are not made by professional planning officers, employed by the local authority, but by Committees, who are very often politically backed. It is therefore essential that initial independent advice is taken at an early stage to assess viability.

It may be interesting to note that some of the land we secured working with developers/vendors is now coming forward for development some 15 years hence. Whether your land comprises redundant buildings, greenfield or brownfield land, it’s likely your land will be of interest to developers.

Our specialty is the negotiation of land without planning permission and securing appropriate mutually beneficial arrangements between landowners and developers. Developers build their landbanks to supply short, medium and long term targets, and to satisfy their shareholders.

Dependent on the potential use of your land, you may have to wait months or, in the case of strategic land, for years. Our guidance offered is one of the many benefits of our service.  Identifying, negotiating and progressing land sales through the minefield of legal and planning systems is the main service we provide.

We have access to an extensive client base featuring some of the best developers in the UK. Due to the planning system, you will find your sale progressing according to its timescale, not yours.

The first step to selling your land is establishing title and your land’s boundaries, including any covenants which may have been placed on redevelopment.

Since 26 June 2017, we are legally bound to obtain Anti-Money Laundering documentation from all parties involved in monetary transactions and we must act in accordance with the law. The main UK legislation covering anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism is:

  • Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
  • Terrorism Act 2000
  • Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the Regulations)
  • Criminal Finances Act 2017

Legislation applies to all monetary negotiations, requiring us to identify ownership of the land and all parties taking part in the negotiations.

Your local Estate Agents may have Sales, Lettings and New Homes departments.  All three require specialisms. Your first step is to find out which Estate and Land Agents operate in your area.  This can be achieved by doing a search online, or by recommendations.

‘Mystery shop’ the more prominent local companies and assess the way they handle a simple enquiry from you, perhaps about a property you feel would be a competitor to yours in some way. Then shortlist two or three, and interview them thoroughly, because you’ll probably be working together for some length of time.

The agent with the lowest fee and highest valuation of your land is not necessarily the best choice – take a considered view on their professionalism, their success locally (and ask for details of completed land transactions), and whether you like them or not. We have sourced land since 1991 and during that time have built a long term valuable network of contacts within developer companies, landowners and consultants, who will provide testimonials on our credentials.

The most important aspect of the relationship is transparency about what is happening, when it’s taking place and knowing why delays happen – because they do. If there is a change in your circumstances, you should certainly communicate this to your Land Agent.

Your Land Agent will prepare sales particulars, brochures and substantiating documents to send to prospective buyers.

At the outset, your land with no planning permission, will have a value.  With planning permission the value will be substantially higher, but there are likely to be costs associated for items known as Section 106, and CILs.

Land with planning permission is generally one-third of the Gross Development Value (GDV), ie the amount of revenue the developer will achieve after selling all units. Depending on whether you choose to go along the Option or Promotional Agreement route, will determine the final value of your land, and the amount you receive for selling.

It is too early to start partying, but there are likely to be numerous ‘parties’ involved in the transaction when your Land Agent successfully delivers a purchaser. Remember, it can take years to finalise a transaction.

Your Land Agent will present offers to you, in writing.  We provide an outline of the offer under ‘Heads of Terms’  so you, and your solicitor, are aware of the terms of the offer, ie whether the offer is conditional, or unconditional.

Selling your land requires specialisms in the legalities for dealing with the complexities of land sales and purchases. Good representation is imperative.  Family lawyers very often have not got the expertise to deal with land disposal, as it has become quite complicated.

Specialists in this field should be engaged.

You make also need to take advice on financial matters from your Accountant about your tax liabilities when you sell your land.

You are selling your land, not your home (although a developer may wish to include your property in the sale). Developers will have carried out research checking ownerships, planning history, covenants, boundaries, the topography of the land, highways, utilities and ecological constraints.

They will generally ‘walk the site’ to get a feel for how the development will look and to its feasibility. Your Land Agent is likely to attend site together with the developers and explain the potential of the land, and seek the developers’ intentions to be able to give you feedback.

A professional Land Agent will stay regularly in touch to update on interest in your land, progress, offers submitted and activity updates.

At the end of the day, you should be completely involved in decisions made (and your Solicitor will be able to guide you). Call me on 01903 692952 or email bob@rwhilder.co.uk to find out how Land & Brand New Homes can help sell your land.