Selling Land in Gloucestershire

• 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 Gloucestershire 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 Cotswolds National Landscape

The Cotswolds is the largest National Landscape in England, and its western escarpment overlooks Cheltenham, Gloucester and the Stroud valleys. Major development inside it is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and the unmet need policy does not override that protection. Land in the setting of the escarpment is judged on its effect on views. A site just below the scarp edge may be harder than one on the far side of a town.

The Wye Valley and Malvern Hills

The Wye Valley National Landscape covers the western edge of the Forest of Dean along the river. A small part of the Malvern Hills National Landscape reaches into the north of the county near the Worcestershire and Herefordshire borders.

Green Belt Between Gloucester and Cheltenham

A Green Belt separates Gloucester and Cheltenham, mostly in Tewkesbury borough. The Joint Core Strategy redrew its boundary to release land for urban extensions to both Gloucester and Cheltenham, and safeguarded more near M5 junction 10. Land that remains could qualify as grey belt if it does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes. Stopping neighbouring towns merging is one of those purposes, and it carries real weight in the narrow gap between the two. S5 does not reach the Green Belt, and grey belt carries a separate need test, which a Gloucestershire council short of five years of land, or with a result under 75%, will usually meet. Our grey belt guide explains the test.

The Severn Flood Plain

The Severn, the Avon at Tewkesbury, the Leadon and the Frome all have wide flood plains. Tewkesbury and Gloucester both flooded badly in 2007. Land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 faces the sequential test, and in the Severn vale that often rules out large parts of a holding. Sites with enough ground in Flood Zone 1 are still worth assessing. Our guide to flood risk and development sets out how councils decide.

Cotswold Beechwoods

New homes within 15.4 km of the Cotswold Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation, near Painswick and Cranham, must contribute to a strategic mitigation scheme. The charge is set per home and is modest, but it applies across large parts of Stroud, Cotswold and Tewkesbury, and it should be allowed for in any appraisal.

For most owners selling land in Gloucestershire, the first two questions are which side of the National Landscape boundary a field lies on and how far it sits above the Severn flood plain; the Green Belt matters mainly between Gloucester and Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire has more live routes to planning than most counties, because three councils are below 75%, all seven in the table are short of five years of land, and several plans are being written at once. The main ones are:

1. An application under policy S5. Unmet need is treated as evidenced in Cheltenham, Gloucester and Cotswold, and elsewhere the supply shortfall is evidence to weigh. Land that sits well against a settlement can be put forward if it is outside the Green Belt and National Landscape and the other constraints can be met.
2. The new plans. The Strategic and Local Plan, the Cotswold Local Plan 2026 to 2043, and new plans in Stroud and the Forest of Dean all need sites. South Gloucestershire's plan is further on, submitted for examination in October 2025. How land gets considered is explained in our guide to calls for sites and local plans.
3. Grey belt. Between Gloucester and Cheltenham, some Green Belt land may qualify where need is shown, and larger schemes must meet the Golden Rules.
4. Previously developed land. Old yards and commercial sites, including in the Cotswolds, where small brownfield schemes can be acceptable.
5. Sites near stations. National policy now supports homes within walking distance of well-connected stations. Whether it applies depends on the station and its service.

The chance is real in parts of Gloucestershire, but so are the constraints. A good application needs landscape, flood, highways and ecology evidence, and that costs money. Under our agreements we pay for it. See our guide to the NPPF 2026 for the policy changes.