Essex council area

Selling Land in Basildon

Basildon is still using a local plan adopted in 1998, and in July 2026 the housing minister directed the council to send a new one to the Planning Inspectorate by the end of the year. For owners of land around Basildon, Billericay and Wickford, that plan will shape the borough to 2043.

Free review of your land in Basildon

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If planning is refused, you keep your land and owe nothing

Basildon Borough at a Glance

The borough has three towns, Basildon, Billericay and Wickford, and the draft plan published in November 2024 gave each a housing figure of its own: 4,313 homes for Basildon, 4,170 for Billericay and 4,220 for Wickford, as reported locally. Around them sit villages such as Little Burstead, Great Burstead, South Green, Ramsden Bellhouse, Crays Hill and Noak Bridge, with the A127 and A13 running east to west across the borough.

One of the weakest delivery records in England. The borough completed 731 homes against a requirement of 3,123 in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, a score of 23%.
No plan under the 2004 system. The council has never adopted a plan under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Its policies date from 1998, with alterations in 1999.
A lot of Green Belt. Its MP told Parliament in January 2025 that almost two thirds of the undeveloped land in the borough is Green Belt, some 6,590 hectares.
Two rail lines. c2c trains between Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness stop at Basildon, Laindon and Pitsea. Billericay and Wickford are on Greater Anglia's line from Shenfield to Southend Victoria.
A draft plan to 2043. The first draft, in November 2024, looked ahead 20 years and, as reported locally, planned for 27,111 new homes, at least 10,420 of them affordable.

The shortage of homes is severe, but much of the open land is protected, and the plan that could settle where growth goes has been slow to arrive.

Basildon in Figures

The government's latest figures for the council, and where its local plan stands.

Housing Delivery Test 2025
23%
Below 75%: treated as having evidenced unmet housing need under national policy S5.
Homes built against homes needed
731
of 3,123 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
None listed
The plan currently used to decide applications.
New plan progress
Updated
Government direction July 2026: submit the plan by 31 December 2026
Checked source

Sources: Housing Delivery Test: 2025 measurement, MHCLG, published 17 August 2026; Local plans: monitoring progress, Planning Inspectorate, August 2026. Local plans move quickly, so always check the council's own website for the latest position.

The July 2026 Government Direction

On 21 July 2026 the housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, wrote to the council using his powers under section 27 of the 2004 Act. His letter noted that the council was at least five months behind the timetable it set itself in October 2025, that it could show only 1.96 years of housing land supply, and that it was one of only five authorities without a plan adopted under the 2004 Act.

The directions in the letter were specific:

Publish the plan. Start the formal Regulation 19 consultation by 10 August 2026 and run it for at least six weeks.
Submit it. Send the plan to the Planning Inspectorate by 31 December 2026, with only minor changes after publication.
Keep going. Do not withdraw the plan, send the government monthly progress reports and carry on through the examination.
Publish a timetable. Issue a revised Local Development Scheme by 10 August 2026.

The letter explains why the minister acted. The council's October 2025 timetable had promised the Regulation 19 consultation in winter 2025/26 and submission in spring 2026, and both dates passed. The minister also recorded that the council had stated its opposition to the government's standard method for housing need and to a plan that meets that need in full.

What the Direction Means for Landowners

For the first time since 1998, Basildon has a date by which its Green Belt boundaries will be argued over in public. Once the plan is with the inspector, the council has to defend its sites against a supply position the minister himself put at under two years. If the inspector finds the chosen sites around Billericay, Wickford or the edges of Basildon will not deliver enough, the search for more land starts from sites that already have access, drainage and landscape evidence in hand. Written representations on the published plan are the last chance to make that case before the hearings, and our call for sites and local plans guide shows what a good one contains.

Where the 23% Result Applies, and Where It Does Not

The August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework draws its line at 75%, and Basildon sits more than fifty points below it. With so much of the countryside in the Green Belt, the score does very different work depending on which side of a settlement boundary your land falls:

A summary only. Each site turns on its own facts and evidence.
Where the land is	How national policy treats it
Inside Basildon, Billericay or Wickford	Policy S4 already leans towards approval inside the towns, so a backland plot or a disused yard within a town does not depend on the 23% at all.
Green Belt fields that may be grey belt	A paddock hemmed in by housing and roads is judged on how much it keeps the towns apart. The shortage adds weight, and a scheme must then meet the Golden Rules.
Previously developed land in the Green Belt	Lawful buildings and hardstanding can be redeveloped under Green Belt policy without first proving grey belt.
An easy walk from one of the five stations	Policy L3 favours denser housing near stations with a good service, which c2c at Basildon, Laindon and Pitsea and Greater Anglia at Billericay and Wickford may provide. It reaches some Green Belt land.
Open Green Belt that plays a strong role	Fields that keep two of the towns apart get no help from the policy S5 shortfall route. Only the new plan can release them.

Around Basildon the purpose that usually settles the grey belt question is stopping neighbouring towns from merging, because the borough's three towns and their villages share one stretch of countryside. How that purpose is tested, field by field, is covered in our grey belt guide.

Where the November 2024 Draft Looked for Land

The Green Belt figures explain why the draft plan is so contested. As reported when it was published, up to 16,928 of the 27,111 homes in the November 2024 draft were proposed on Green Belt sites,. The largest proposals named at the time were:

Wick Country Park, up to 2,100 homes.
South East Billericay, up to 1,500 homes.
South of Great Burstead, up to 1,000 homes.

The same draft set aside land for at least 235 Gypsy and Traveller pitches and a yard of 13 pitches for travelling showpeople, and between 65 and 82 hectares for employment. Two further rounds of consultation followed, and the last closed on 16 January 2026, so the published plan may name different sites or different numbers. If your land was left out, the council's reasons often show what would need to change for it to come back in.

Plotlands, Smallholdings and Old Yards

Basildon has an unusual planning history. At Langdon, off Lower Dunton Road, Essex Wildlife Trust now looks after the site of the former Dunton Plotlands, where nearly 200 plotland homes once stood. The Haven, built in the 1930s, is the last house of its kind left, and it was still standing when the trust took the reserve on in the 1980s.

Where land from that era is still in private hands, it is often split between several owners, with unmade tracks and a patchwork of lawful and unlawful uses built up over decades. That makes it harder to assemble, but it can also mean parts of it count as previously developed land. The evidence usually decides the outcome, so it helps to gather what you have early:

Your title plan and deeds, including any rights of way over tracks.
Old planning permissions, and any certificates of lawful use for buildings or yards.
Photographs, rates bills or business records showing how the land has been used and for how long.
Details of neighbouring owners, where a scheme might work better with adjoining plots.

You do not need all of this before speaking to us. We carry out the title and planning history checks ourselves, at our cost, and tell you what we find. If a joined-up scheme across several plots would work better, we can talk to neighbouring owners with your agreement. The brownfield and yards page sets out what makes an old yard worth pursuing.

The Land We Look for in Basildon

Fields on the edge of Billericay, Wickford and Basildon, where Green Belt boundaries are most likely to be reviewed.
Land around Crays Hill, Ramsden Bellhouse, Noak Bridge and the Bursteads that is enclosed by existing homes or roads.
Old plots, yards and former nurseries with lawful buildings or hardstanding.
Land within walking distance of any of the five stations.
Holdings with a road frontage, or a clear route to one.
Larger areas of land that could help meet the growth the new plan must provide.

On every site we check the flood maps and the sequential test in our flood risk guide first, and land beside the A127 or A13 needs early work on traffic noise and junctions.

In Basildon, with a plan heading for examination, our work on a site often starts with written representations and can run through hearing sessions before any application is made. The option price is fixed on the day we sign, above what the land is worth today, and every report, representation, application and appeal along the way is paid for by us. Once permission is secured we complete and you receive that agreed price; if it never comes, the land stays yours with nothing owed, and you farm, graze or let it as before in the meantime. The stages are laid out on our how it works page.

Questions About Land in Basildon

The government has told the council to submit its plan. Does that mean my field will be allocated?

No. The direction makes sure the plan reaches an inspector, but it does not decide which sites are in it. What helps is having evidence ready that shows your land is available, deliverable and a sensible place for homes.

My land was in an earlier draft but has dropped out. Is that the end of it?

Not necessarily. Sites move in and out between drafts, and the inspector can ask the council to find more land if the plan does not provide enough. Well-located land can also come forward through an application under national policy.

I own one of the old plots in the countryside. Is it worth anything more than a paddock?

Sometimes. It depends on its lawful use, access and whether it could form part of a larger scheme with neighbouring plots. We check the planning history for you and tell you plainly what we think.

The minister put the housing land supply at 1.96 years. Does that help an application now?

It adds weight, because a shortfall in the five-year supply of deliverable sites is further evidence of unmet need under national policy, on top of the 23% delivery score. It does not lift Green Belt protection on its own, so land in the Green Belt still has to pass the grey belt test or be released through the new plan. Until the plan is adopted, the 1998 policies and national policy decide applications.

Will a low delivery score help my land in Billericay?

Within the town it hardly needs to, because building there is already supported in principle. On the fields around Billericay the score strengthens a grey belt case without deciding it, and the distance to Billericay station can matter as much as the score does.

Tell Us About Your Land in Basildon

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, in confidence.

About your land

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Sources

We update this page when new Housing Delivery Test results or local plan milestones are published. Planning positions change quickly, so always check the council's own website before relying on it.