Selling Land in Cheshire

• It sits next to, or is well related to, an existing town or village.
• A safe access onto a public road is possible, even if it needs work.
• Most of the land is outside the highest flood risk zone.
• It is not covered by a strong designation such as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
• It is about 2 acres or more, or part of a larger holding.
• Everyone who owns it is willing to consider one clear, agreed price.

If your land does not tick every box, ask anyway. Many of the sites we take on have a problem to solve, whether that is access, drainage, a tenancy or an awkward boundary, and solving those problems is our job.

1. A first conversation. You call us or send the form on this page. We need only your postcode, your name and a phone number or email.
2. A free desktop review. Within a few days we look at your land, the planning position in Cheshire and the routes open to it, and tell you plainly whether it suits us. The review is free and confidential, with no obligation.
3. Heads of terms and the option agreement. If it suits, we agree a price with you in writing, then the option agreement itself. We contribute to your solicitor's and land agent's fees, so it costs you nothing to get it done properly.
4. The planning work, at our cost. We pay for the surveys, the design, the planning application and any appeal. You carry on farming, grazing or letting the land as you do now.
5. Completion. If planning permission is granted, we complete the purchase and you receive the agreed price on completion. If it is not, you keep your land and owe nothing.

How selling land for development works, step by step gives the detail of each stage and how long it usually takes.

The North Cheshire Green Belt

The Green Belt in north Cheshire keeps Greater Manchester and Merseyside from spreading south and keeps towns such as Wilmslow, Knutsford, Chester and Warrington apart. Parts of it have been released through the Cheshire East and Warrington plans, and in Halton, where the inspectors who examined its 2022 plan found exceptional circumstances to alter the boundary. Since December 2024, land that does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes can be treated as grey belt. Housing there also needs evidence of need, most often a supply under five years or a Housing Delivery Test score under 75%, and the Golden Rules apply to larger schemes. The shortfalls in Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester provide that evidence today, and in August 2026 the Prestbury Road appeal allowed up to 200 homes on grey belt near Macclesfield. Warrington, on its published figures, meets neither test at present, and nor does Halton, which reports over five years of land without a figure. Our grey belt guide explains how that is judged. Further south, Crewe and Nantwich are kept apart by strategic green gaps instead.

Jodrell Bank

Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, is a World Heritage Site. Cheshire East's policy requires development in its buffer zone to show it will not reduce the efficiency of the telescopes through radio interference. The buffer zone grew out of a consultation zone set up in 1973, and it covers a wide area of countryside and villages. Homes have been refused on these grounds, so land in the zone needs an early check.

Rivers and Flood Risk

The Dee runs through Chester, the Weaver through Northwich and Winsford, and the Mersey through Warrington. The Dane, Bollin and Wheelock add flood plain in Cheshire East. Land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 faces the sequential test, but many Cheshire farms have a large area in Flood Zone 1 away from the brooks. The approach is explained in our guide to flood risk and development.

Heritage and Landscape

Chester has its Roman and medieval walls and a large conservation area, and there are listed halls, estates and conservation areas across the county. The Peak District National Park reaches into the far east of Cheshire East. Heritage and landscape usually shape the layout and density of a scheme rather than ruling it out.

Ground Conditions

Parts of mid Cheshire, around Northwich and Middlewich, have a long history of salt working, and ground stability is something councils and buyers look at there. It is a matter for investigation, not a reason on its own to rule land out.

In Cheshire, the Green Belt line in the north and the Jodrell Bank zone around Goostrey are the two things to check first when selling land, because either can change the route for a field before flood risk, heritage or ground conditions come into it.

Cheshire is a strong market. Delivery is well above target, but supply is short in the two large councils and thin in Warrington, so land can be allocated in a new plan or, in some places, make its case sooner under national policy. The main routes are:

1. The three new plans. All three are at an early stage, as is Halton's review. Land put forward with good evidence now is better placed when draft sites are chosen. Our guide to local plan stages and calls for sites explains the process.
2. Applications outside the Green Belt. In Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester, policy S5 treats a supply shortfall as evidence of unmet need to weigh, not an automatic finding, so a well related edge-of-settlement site can have a case now. Inside built-up areas, policy S4 leans towards approval.
3. Grey belt in the north. Around Chester, Wilmslow, Knutsford and Macclesfield, land that does little to stop sprawl or merging may qualify, since the shortfalls evidence the need, and larger schemes must meet the Golden Rules. Around Warrington, the plan update is the main route for now, and in Halton the review is.
4. Previously developed land. Former yards, farm buildings and commercial sites, which national policy supports inside and outside settlements.
5. Neighbourhood plans. Many Cheshire parishes and towns have neighbourhood plans, and some allocate small sites.
6. Sites near stations. National policy now supports higher density homes within walking distance of well-connected stations. Whether a Cheshire station qualifies depends on its service and travel-to-work area.

The timing matters in Cheshire. Three new plans and Halton's review are under way, and the early stages are when sites are gathered and assessed. The planning work needed to bring land forward properly is paid for under our agreements. See what we buy for the types of land we look at.