Selling Land in Hertfordshire

• 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 Hertfordshire 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 Green Belt That Keeps the Towns Apart

The Green Belt was drawn to stop London spreading north and to keep Hertfordshire's many towns apart. It is why places such as St Albans, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and Potters Bar still have open land between them. Some councils have already released Green Belt land for housing through their plans. Since December 2024, land that does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes can be treated as grey belt. In Hertfordshire that test matters more than almost anywhere, because the councils with the weakest delivery are the ones with the most Green Belt. For homes, grey belt land has a need test of its own, normally met where a council lacks five years of supply or scores under 75% on delivery, which every council except Stevenage and Watford can currently show, and the Golden Rules then apply to larger schemes. Our grey belt guide explains how it works.

The Chilterns National Landscape

The Chilterns cover the west of Dacorum around Tring and Berkhamsted and extend north east towards Hitchin. Major development inside a National Landscape is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and land just outside the boundary is judged on its effect on the setting of the hills.

Chalk Streams and Water

Hertfordshire's chalk streams are rare habitats that depend on groundwater. Councils and the Environment Agency look carefully at drainage from new homes and at how schemes will manage water. A good surface water strategy is part of every application we make.

The Lea, Colne and Stort Valleys

The Lea, Colne, Stort and their tributaries carry flood risk through Hertford, Ware, Broxbourne, Watford and Rickmansworth. Land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 faces the sequential test. Often the homes can be kept to the Flood Zone 1 part of a site, with the wetter land used for open space and drainage.

Heritage and New Towns

The county has two of the first garden cities, Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City, and post-war new towns at Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead and Hatfield. St Albans has Roman and medieval remains and a large conservation area. Heritage shapes layout and density on many sites without stopping them.

On a typical Hertfordshire site two of these meet, a Green Belt parcel near a chalk stream or a valley field beside a conservation area, and we commission the evidence for both together.

Hertfordshire is unusual. The low delivery scores are real, but because most of the land in those councils is Green Belt, the unmet need route in policy S5 applies to only a small share of fields. The main routes are:

1. Grey belt. In Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Welwyn Hatfield and Dacorum, the key question for most land is whether it qualifies as grey belt. Fields enclosed by roads, housing or other development, and land that was previously developed, are often the best candidates.
2. Unmet need, outside the Green Belt. Where those councils have land outside the Green Belt, policy S5 treats them as having evidenced unmet housing need, subject to the usual constraints. In East and North Hertfordshire, a supply short of five years is evidence to weigh rather than an automatic finding. Inside built-up areas, policy S4 leans towards approval.
3. Local plan allocation. Dacorum's plan is at examination, St Albans has just adopted one, and Hertsmere, Three Rivers and Welwyn Hatfield are finishing theirs. For now the district and borough councils run plan-making, since reorganisation is paused. The stages are set out in our local plan guide.
4. Sites near stations. National policy now supports higher density homes within walking distance of well connected stations. Whether it applies depends on the station and its service.

Land values in Hertfordshire are high, so a well made case is worth the effort. The evidence has to be good, because councils and local groups test Green Belt arguments closely. Under our agreements, we prepare and pay for all of that evidence, from the Green Belt assessment to any appeal. Our guide to option agreements explains how the agreement works.