Selling Land in Derbyshire

• 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 Derbyshire 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 Peak District National Park

The Peak District National Park Authority is the planning authority for everything inside the park boundary. National policy gives the highest level of protection to National Parks, and new housing inside the park is generally limited to meeting local needs. Land on the edge of towns just outside the boundary, such as Buxton, is assessed by the district council, though its effect on the park's setting is still considered.

The Green Belts

The Nottingham and Derby Green Belt was drawn to keep the two cities and the towns between them apart. In Derbyshire it covers much of Erewash and parts of Amber Valley and South Derbyshire, and some of it lies inside Derby itself, on the city's rural fringes. Since December 2024, Green Belt land that does not strongly contribute to its purposes can be grey belt. Housing there must also be justified by need, typically where supply falls below five years or delivery scores under 75%, which every Derbyshire council except Amber Valley and South Derbyshire can currently show, and larger schemes have to satisfy the Golden Rules for affordable homes, infrastructure and green space. Previously developed land in the Green Belt, such as old yards, can also qualify. The same test applies to the Green Belt in High Peak and on the Sheffield side. Our grey belt guide explains it.

The Derwent Valley Mills

The Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site runs about 15 miles down the river from Matlock Bath to Derby, taking in the early cotton mills and mill villages at places such as Cromford and Belper. Land in or near it is judged on its effect on the site and its setting. This can shape a scheme heavily, but it does not rule out every site nearby.

Flood Risk and the River Mease

The Derwent, the Trent, the Dove, the Erewash and the Rother all have flood plains, and the Trent valley south of Derby is wide and low. Land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 faces the sequential test. In the far south, the River Mease is a Special Area of Conservation that is sensitive to phosphates, so new homes draining into its catchment must be nutrient neutral. The detail is in our guide to flood risk.

A single field can carry more than one of these at once, such as land near Belper in the setting of the Derwent Valley Mills, or a field in the south of South Derbyshire that drains to the Mease, so selling land here begins with mapping which of them apply.

Most Derbyshire councils build well above target, but the five-year supply is a separate test. Erewash and Derby fail both, though in Erewash the Green Belt means grey belt matters more than the shortfall, and Derbyshire Dales, Chesterfield, High Peak, North East Derbyshire and Bolsover are short of land. In Amber Valley and South Derbyshire, larger sites usually come through the local plan. The main routes are:

1. Grey belt where need is evidenced. In Erewash, Derby, Chesterfield, High Peak, North East Derbyshire and Bolsover, Green Belt fields that do little to stop sprawl or merging can qualify, and larger schemes must meet the Golden Rules. In Amber Valley and South Derbyshire the need test is not met today, so Green Belt fields there mostly wait for new plans.
2. Land outside the Green Belt where supply is short. In Erewash and Derby, unmet need is treated as evidenced. In Chesterfield, High Peak, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover and the Dales outside the National Park, the shortfall is evidence to weigh under S5, not an automatic finding. Inside built-up areas, policy S4 leans towards approval.
3. Local plan allocation. Derbyshire Dales has consulted on the plan it will submit, Derby's new plan was published for consultation in July 2026, and South Derbyshire's Part 1 review is at examination. Amber Valley, Chesterfield and Erewash have started new plans under the new system, North East Derbyshire and High Peak are reviewing theirs, and Bolsover's timetable starts in June 2027. Our guide to getting land into a plan covers each stage.
4. Previously developed land. Former pit sites, works, depots and yards, which national policy supports reusing.
5. Sites near stations. National policy supports higher density homes near well-connected stations. Whether that applies depends on the station and its service.

The same field could follow a very different path a few miles away in Amber Valley or South Derbyshire, where the plan route is stronger. That is why we look at each site on its own facts before saying anything about value.