Areas we cover
Selling Land in East Sussex
Checked on
No council in East Sussex reached the 95% line in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, and five of the six built fewer than three quarters of the homes they needed. The reasons are physical: the sea, the South Downs National Park and the High Weald leave little open land, and the draft plans in Hastings, Rother and Lewes each meet only part of the government's figure. A well placed field outside those designations has a real argument under national policy.
- We pay for the planning, at our own cost and risk
- Your price is agreed up front, in writing
- If planning is refused, you keep your land and owe nothing
In short
We buy land across East Sussex and welcome land of every kind in all six of its council areas: fields and paddocks, inherited land, old yards and larger holdings.
All six of East Sussex's councils are short of the five years of housing land national policy expects, and five built fewer than 75% of the homes they needed in the government's latest count. In all of them, national policy counts that as evidence that more homes are needed, so a well placed field next to a town or village can make a case outside the local plan, weighed with everything else. Land in the Green Belt faces stricter national tests. The table below shows each council.
We look for 2 acres or more next to, or well related to, a town or village, with a road frontage or a way to get one.
The next step is a free, confidential desktop review. We tell you which route, if any, suits your land, with no obligation.
Council by Council
The table shows each council's result in the government's Housing Delivery Test 2025, its latest five-year land supply where one has been checked, and where its local plan stands.
| Council | Housing Delivery Test 2025 | Five-year land supply | Most recent strategic plan adopted | New plan progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton and Hove | 50%Below 75%: unmet need | 1.7 yearsShort of five yearsSource: Brighton and Hove City Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2023 to 2024 (2024) | March 2016 | No recent stage listed |
| Eastbourne | 23%Below 75%: unmet need | 1.4 yearsShort of five yearsAt October 2025: Eastbourne Borough Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2024 to 2025 (December 2025) | February 2013 | Timetable of February 2026 puts the final draft plan in September 2026, submission in December 2026 and adoption in November 2027Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Hastings | 44%Below 75%: unmet need | 1.65 yearsShort of five yearsSource: Hastings Borough Council: Local Plan Monitoring Report 2023 to 2024 (February 2025) | February 2014 | Draft plan consultation held 19 February to 7 April 2026; the report to full council on 23 September 2026 recommended publishing the pre-submission plan, with submission due by 31 December 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Lewes | 60%Below 75%: unmet need | 2.73 yearsShort of five yearsSource: Lewes District Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2024 to 2025 | May 2016 | No recent stage listed |
| Rother | 35%Below 75%: unmet need | 3.04 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2025: Rother District Council: Housing Land Supply and Housing Trajectory, April 2025 position statement (January 2026) | September 2014 | Full council approved the pre-submission Local Plan for publication on 21 September 2026, by 21 votes to 11; the cabinet report of 14 September 2026 plans submission by 31 December 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Wealden | 89%Action plan | 3.65 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2026: Wealden District Council: Housing Land Supply Statement as of 1st April 2026 (September 2026) | February 2013 | Timetable approved 18 September 2026; final draft Local Plan open for comment 21 September to 2 November 2026, with submission planned before the end of 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
Sources: Housing Delivery Test: 2025 measurement, MHCLG, published 17 August 2026; Local plans: monitoring progress, Planning Inspectorate, August 2026, with later milestones we have checked on council and government websites marked "Checked". Five-year land supply figures come from each council's own latest statement, or the latest figure tested at appeal, linked in each row. A Housing Delivery Test result below 75%, or a supply short of five years, counts as evidence of unmet housing need under policy S5 of the NPPF. Local plans move quickly, so always check the council's own website for the latest position.
Eastbourne
Eastbourne has the county's lowest result: 513 homes built against 2,224 required. Its December 2025 monitoring report records that over 40% of the borough lies in the National Park. Its latest strategic plan dates from February 2013, so supply is tested against the standard method. The report sets out the sum like this:
| Part of the calculation | Eastbourne's figure |
|---|---|
| Local housing need, standard method | 714 homes a year |
| Five years of need with a 20% buffer | 4,284 homes |
| Deliverable homes identified | 1,218 homes |
| Result, at 1 October 2025 | 1.4 years |
The same report counted 94 net new homes in 2024/25, and says the council still intends to submit its new plan by the end of December 2026.
Hastings
Hastings' new plan is led by what land it can find. The report to full council on 23 September 2026 puts the government's figure at 686 homes a year, but finds capacity for a little under 3,300 homes over the 18-year plan period to 2041, which it calls 27% of that need. Its latest strategic plan dates from February 2014. A draft consultation from 19 February to 7 April 2026 drew around 2,300 comments. The report recommended six weeks of formal representations on the pre-submission plan, with a submission deadline of 31 December 2026, and keeps land at Breadsell as an area of development potential. The latest monitoring report, with sites assessed at October 2024, counts 1.65 years against the standard method, 710 homes a year, plus a 20% buffer. Its need figure and the 686 differ for the same reason as Rother's two figures below.
Rother
Rother covers Bexhill, Battle, Rye and a wide rural area. Its latest strategic plan dates from September 2014, and delivery is at 35%, less than half the requirement. On 14 September 2026 its cabinet recommended that the pre-submission Local Plan be published for consultation under Regulation 19, and full council agreed on 21 September 2026 by 21 votes to 11. The plan provides for around 8,500 homes to 2042, about 510 a year, and the report says it will return to full council in December before submission by 31 December 2026.
Rother's papers give two government figures, each right for its date. The supply statement of January 2026 works the standard method out as at May 2025: 0.8% of the district's 47,207 homes gives 378 a year, and an affordability ratio of 12.44 lifts that to 912, against which it finds 3.04 years at 1 April 2025. The cabinet report of September 2026 gives 895. The likely reason is the yearly refresh of the housing stock and affordability figures the method uses. For a landowner it changes nothing today, as both leave the district well short. Adoption would: the report says supply would then be measured against the plan's 510 a year.
Lewes
Lewes district runs from Newhaven, Peacehaven and Seaford on the coast to the villages of the Low Weald in the north, with the National Park across its middle. Its latest strategic plan dates from May 2016. The council's housing delivery action plan of June 2025 gives its supply for the district outside the Park as 2.73 years as at September 2023, still the latest when the plan was written almost two years later. An inspector put the same September 2023 position at around 2.6 years when dismissing an appeal for six homes at Wivelsfield Green in March 2025 on harm to the lane's character and a listed building's setting; the decision gives no working for the gap, and both figures are far short of five years. An application need not lean on a figure that old anyway: with delivery below 75%, unmet need is treated as evidenced whatever the supply. The same plan records the council's designation for major applications in May 2024, and that 13 of the 40 major applications it decided between April 2021 and March 2023 were allowed on appeal.
Wealden
Wealden takes in Crowborough, Uckfield, Heathfield, Hailsham and Polegate. The only council here above 75%, at 89% it still needs an action plan. Its latest strategic plan dates from February 2013. Its new plan, to 2042, is at the final stage before submission: the council set a representation period of 21 September to 2 November 2026, under a timetable approved by full council on 18 September 2026, and expects hearings in 2027. It says it will then summarise the representations and report back to full council before submitting the plan. The council's supply statement of September 2026 measures the five years from 1 April 2026 against the government's figure of 1,465 homes a year: with a 5% buffer that is 7,691 homes, against 5,621 deliverable, a gap of 2,070 and 3.65 years of land. The buffer is 5%, not 20%, because Wealden's latest delivery result is above 85%.
Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove is squeezed between the sea and the Downs, and its City Plan Part Two allocated housing on contested urban fringe sites such as Benfield Valley and the butterfly bank at Swanborough Drive in Whitehawk. Delivery is at 50%. The council's monitoring report for 2023 to 2024 gives two supply figures from its 2023 land assessment: 3.9 years against the 660 homes a year in City Plan Part One, and 1.7 years against the standard method, 2,333 homes a year, plus a 5% buffer. The second counts, because Part One dates from March 2016, more than five years ago, so its requirement gives way to the standard method. The council is preparing City Plan 2041 under the government's 30-month process: local reporting in May 2026 set out a first consultation from July 2026, a finalised plan before cabinet in April 2028 and adoption in March 2029.
The Land We Look for in East Sussex
- Fields of 2 acres or more against a town or larger village, outside the National Park.
- Village sites in the High Weald sized to the place, with woodland or hedges limiting views.
- Sites with a road frontage or a clear route to one, mostly in Flood Zone 1.
- Former yards, depots and commercial land in Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Newhaven and Seaford.
Land inside the Park or deep in the High Weald is not ruled out, but the bar is much higher, and our review will say so plainly. See our paddocks and small sites page for smaller plots.
The planning detail in full
Six Councils Caught Between the Downs, the Weald and the Sea
Seven authorities decide housing applications in East Sussex. Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden are district and borough councils, and Brighton and Hove a unitary city council, each deciding applications and making its own local plan outside the National Park. East Sussex County Council covers the five districts, but housing applications go to them. Inside the South Downs National Park, the National Park Authority has been the local planning authority since 2011, with its own local plan.
- Five councils below 75%. In the Housing Delivery Test 2025, Eastbourne delivered 23% of the homes it needed, Rother 35%, Hastings 44%, Brighton and Hove 50% and Lewes 60%. Under national policy each is treated as having evidenced unmet housing need.
- Wealden needs an action plan. At 89%, Wealden is above 85% but below 95%, so it must explain how it will improve delivery.
- Short of land. Eastbourne's latest figure is 1.4 years, Hastings 1.65 years, Rother 3.04 years, Brighton and Hove 1.7 years (from its 2023 assessment) and Lewes 2.73 years (a position from September 2023), all below five years.
- Reorganisation paused. The plan for one council to replace the county council and the five district and borough councils was paused on 7 September 2026, so the existing councils keep deciding applications.
What Shapes Planning in East Sussex
The South Downs National Park
The Park Authority's new plan, published in May 2026 as the version it intends to submit, provides for 6,735 homes across the whole Park between 2024 and 2042, and keeps the rule that major development will be refused except in exceptional circumstances and where it is in the public interest. The practical point is the boundary: a field just outside it is judged by the district council on its delivery and supply, one just inside by the Park.
The High Weald
Rother's cabinet report calls the High Weald National Landscape, over some 83% of the district, a significant constraint to major development, and adds designated habitats over roughly another 7%. Even so, the plan identifies major sites inside the National Landscape at its more sustainable settlements, including Battle, Robertsbridge, Hurst Green and Ticehurst. As the report frames the constraint around major development, a smaller site that reads as part of a village starts from a stronger position.
Ashdown Forest
Ashdown Forest is a Special Protection Area for nightjars and Dartford warblers and a Special Area of Conservation for its heathland. New homes within 7km of it pay into a joint visitor management strategy whose partners include Wealden, Lewes, Mid Sussex, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks and Tandridge councils, the Conservators of Ashdown Forest and Natural England, and the surrounding councils have provided five alternative green spaces to help protect the heathland. It adds a cost per home, but a known one, not a bar.
Water, Flooding and Woodland
Rother's report records South East Water's concern that it may be unable to accommodate the growth in the plan, which asks new homes to achieve water use of 100 litres per person per day. It also lists flood risk, many heritage assets and the highest proportion of ancient woodland for its land area in South East England among the district's constraints. Land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 faces the sequential test, as our guide to flood risk explains.
Reorganisation and the New Strategic Authority
The county council describes the government's plan for a single council for almost the whole county, on the One East Sussex model, serving about 530,000 people in place of the county council and the five district and borough councils, with only East Saltdean, Peacehaven and Telscombe leaving East Sussex. On 7 September 2026 the Secretary of State told the Commons that the July decisions for East Sussex and 13 other areas would be reviewed, that reorganisation activity should pause, and that the May 2027 elections would go ahead on existing boundaries. Separately, the Sussex and Brighton Strategic Authority began operating in April 2026, with powers that include transport and housing. None of this changes who decides an application today.
Where Growth Is Focused
With the Park, the High Weald and the sea taking so much land, growth falls on the places between them:
| Area | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| West and north Bexhill | Rother's pre-submission plan uses them to consolidate Bexhill as the district's most sustainable town. |
| Hastings fringes and Breadsell | Rother plans sensitive growth on the edge of Hastings, and Hastings keeps Breadsell as an area of development potential. |
| Battle and Rye | Named in Rother's plan as key transport hubs, with clusters of villages around them. |
| Hailsham, Polegate, Uckfield and Crowborough | Wealden towns, in a district whose plan to 2042 opened for final representations on 21 September 2026. |
| Newhaven, Peacehaven and Seaford | Coastal towns below the Downs in a district short of land, with Newhaven Marina allocated for 337 homes. |
What This Means for Your Land
Most councils here are short of homes, but designations that national policy protects firmly limit where they can go, so the route turns on exactly where a field sits:
- An application under policy S5. In Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes and Rother, a result below 75% means unmet need is treated as evidenced. Land well related to a town or village and served by infrastructure can be put forward now rather than waiting for a plan.
- Wealden and the supply test. Above 75%, need is not treated as evidenced automatically, but Wealden's own statement shows 3.65 years of land. That shortfall is evidence of unmet need to be weighed, not an automatic finding.
- Inside towns and villages. Across all six councils, policy S4 leans towards approving homes within a settlement, with refusal reserved for harm that would substantially outweigh the benefits.
- The new local plans. Rother and Hastings took their final drafts to full council in September 2026, Wealden opened its own for representations on 21 September 2026, and Eastbourne says it still intends to submit by the end of December 2026. Every plan needs sites. Our guide to calls for sites explains how land gets into a plan.
- Previously developed land. Former yards, depots and commercial sites, which national policy supports reusing, above all in the built-up coastal towns.
- Council delivery
- 35% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, so unmet housing need is treated as evidenced
- Constraints
- Outside the National Park and the High Weald, a low corner in Flood Zone 3, water supply to confirm
- Likely route
- An outline application under policy S5, with the land also put forward to the Rother Local Plan
- Your costs
- None. Every planning cost, including any appeal, is paid by us
- What we would offer
- An option agreement at a price agreed at the start, paid on completion once permission is secured, with all planning costs paid for you
An illustration of how we think about a site, not a real offer. Every site is different, and our free desktop review looks at the specific field.
A low delivery score opens the door but does not carry a site through it. Landscape, flood, water and access still need answering, and that is the evidence we pay for.
Questions About East Sussex
My land is inside the South Downs. Who would decide an application?
The South Downs National Park Authority, not the district council. Its plan refuses major development except in exceptional circumstances, so we look first at whether a small scheme fits a village, or whether land just outside the boundary is the better prospect.
I am within 7km of Ashdown Forest. Can I still sell for housing?
Yes. New homes in that zone pay towards visitor management and alternative green space, and that cost is allowed for in our appraisal. It is a known cost, not a reason to refuse.
Lewes was designated for major applications. What does that mean for me?
Designation, recorded from May 2024 in the council's action plan of June 2025, lets applicants for major schemes apply directly to the Planning Inspectorate instead of the council. We would check whether it still applies before choosing where to submit a larger scheme.
Does the planned single council for East Sussex affect a sale of my land?
Not at present. The decision was paused on 7 September 2026, so the existing councils keep deciding applications.
Rother and Hastings are planning fewer homes than the government figure. Does that help or hurt?
Both, at different times. Until adoption, supply is measured against the government's higher figure, so the shortfalls behind an application under policy S5 remain; after it, Rother's report says supply switches to the plan's figure, and allocations become the main route. Our guide on how long planning takes explains the stages.
What price will you pay for my land?
We agree a fixed price with you at the start, before any planning work begins, and it is set above what your land is worth today. We cannot name a figure before we have looked at your land, because it depends on the site itself: its size, its access, how many homes it could take and the costs that come off land value, such as affordable housing, road works and drainage. After the free desktop review we can talk about a price, and once agreed it is written into the agreement.
When would I be paid?
You receive the agreed price on completion, once planning permission has been secured. The agreement sets out the milestones along the way, and it continues while any planning application or appeal is being decided. Until completion you carry on using your land as you do now, and we pay for all of the planning. If permission is not granted, you keep your land and owe nothing.
Tell Us About Your Land in East Sussex
It takes about two minutes. We only need your postcode, your name and a phone number or email; the rest helps us look properly.
- We reply within 2 working days, by phone or email, whichever you prefer.
- The desktop review is free and confidential, with no obligation.
- If we agree terms, we pay for all of the planning, which on a larger site can reach £300,000.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Housing Delivery Test, 2025 measurement
- Planning Inspectorate: Local plans, monitoring progress
- Eastbourne Borough Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2024 to 2025 (December 2025)
- Hastings Borough Council: Full Council report, Hastings Local Plan publication (Regulation 19) (September 2026)
- Rother District Council: Cabinet report, Rother Pre-Submission Local Plan (Regulation 19) (September 2026)
- Rother District Council: Council, 21 September 2026, agenda and minutes (September 2026)
- Rother District Council: Housing Land Supply and Housing Trajectory, April 2025 position statement (January 2026)
- Lewes District Council: Housing Delivery Test Action Plan (June 2025)
- Planning Inspectorate: Appeal decision APP/P1425/W/24/3351850, land north of Slugwash Gardens, Wivelsfield Green (March 2025)
- Wealden District Council: Housing Land Supply Statement as of 1st April 2026 (September 2026)
- Wealden District Council: New Local Plan, Regulation 19 consultation (September 2026)
- South Downs National Park Authority: South Downs Local Plan, Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) (May 2026)
- Ashdown Forest: Ashdown Forest SPA SAMM Strategy (February 2026)
- Hansard: Local Government Reorganisation, statement to the House of Commons (September 2026)
- East Sussex County Council: What is reorganisation and devolution? (September 2026)
- Brighton and Hove City Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2023 to 2024 (2024)
- Brighton and Hove News: Where should new homes be built in Brighton and Hove? (May 2026)
Figures on this page come from the Housing Delivery Test 2025 (published 17 August 2026) and the Planning Inspectorate's local plan monitoring to August 2026, with newer plan milestones checked on 24 September 2026. We update the page when new results or plan milestones are published. Planning positions change quickly, so always check the council's own website before relying on it.
Other Counties We Cover
24 counties, 159 councils
45 of those councils are below 75% in the government's Housing Delivery Test 2025. Point to a county to see its figures.