Planning Guide
What should you investigate before buying development land?
The attractive headline is rarely the whole planning position.
Professional insight
Test the assumptions behind the opportunity.
Early due diligence should connect policy and site constraints to the development idea, land value, likely programme and evidence budget. A list of constraints is less useful than understanding what each one may mean for deliverability.
Scope
Material checks
Settlement status, allocations and development strategy
Planning history and the principle of development
Access, visibility, highway capacity and rights
Flood risk, drainage and water infrastructure
Ecology, Biodiversity Net Gain, trees and landscape
Heritage assets, conservation areas and setting
Utilities, easements, ground conditions and obvious abnormal costs
Likely developable area, density and specialist evidence
Recommended next step