Planning & Development Land Solutions

Short term &  Strategic Land    (see below)

Short Term Land

This is land and property with an existing planning consent or property / land which can realistically be the subject of a planning application for change of use ( such as industrial to housing)  without an extended promotion through a Local Development Plan.

Strategic or Longer Term Land 

Our planning system is predominantly ‘Plan Lead’ meaning that if your property is not allocated for development and perhaps in the Greenbelt on the edge of a settlement then promotion through the Local Development Plan process may be  required (in Scotland).  A Planning application for development may be deemed premature in Scotland but in more recent times in England it could well be an opportunity to submit a Planning application with a good chance of success.

One of our current projects is a land holding which is an anomaly in the greenbelt – We coordinated the promotion of the site through the  Planning process on behalf of the land owner.

The Inquiry Reporter’s decision on the Local Development Plan is now in and the site is now allocated for development . A Planning application would have been made 2-3 years ago but Planning dogma, red tape, Local Development Plan delays and also the time that the Inquiry Reporter takes to make a decision made it difficult for the house builder purchaser to make a planning application.

Strategic or longer term Land disposals may take a number of years and it is of paramount importance to put in the proper preparatory work first.
Planning is one of the biggest concerns of land owners. Land owners are not always aware of the timing of the local Development Plan cycle and miss out on promoting land until the next cycle as they missed the last Local Development Plan deadline.

Local Councils produce Development Plan Schemes and update these on their website annually. It is important to  be aware of which stage your  current Local Development Plan is at. For example, is it adopted and the Council are starting to work on the next Local Development Plan?

More house builders will be submitting planning applications for 100 unit+ sites earlier if they have good reasons to do so. We see this happening now where more major builders and promoters are taking deemed refusals and going to appeal.

There are many other constraints to address and solve also such as Flood Risk , access and ransom strips, roads and traffic issues, ground conditions, title issues. This involves bringing in Town Planning, Engineering expertise and legal advice and a project development surveyor to coordinate the process.

We can show land owners how to address these issues in a cost effective manner and achieve a land sale which is a win-win down the track.

Strategic Land or land with longer term potential, please see our Looking to sell section