Hertfordshire council area

Selling Land in Hertsmere

Hertsmere completed only about one home for every four required in the most recent Housing Delivery Test, the weakest result in Hertfordshire. It is on its third attempt at a new local plan in five years, and the version it must submit by the end of 2026 will set the pattern for the borough's Green Belt for a long time.

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Hertsmere at a Glance

Hertsmere Borough Council covers 38 square miles immediately north of London. Its four main settlements are Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Bushey and Radlett, with Shenley and Elstree as service villages and smaller places such as South Mimms, Letchmore Heath and Ridge. Borehamwood meets the London Borough of Barnet at Stirling Corner, the M25, the M1 and the A1 all run through the borough, and main line trains stop at Elstree & Borehamwood, Radlett and Potters Bar.

The lowest score in the county. Over the three years measured, 567 homes were built against a requirement of 2,181, a result of 26%.
Close to four fifths Green Belt. The council describes the borough as almost 80% Green Belt, the same figure its 2013 plan gave.
An old plan still in force. Decisions rest on the Hertsmere Local Plan 2012 to 2027, adopted in January 2013, with the site allocations and development management policies and the Elstree Way Corridor Area Action Plan for Borehamwood that it said would follow.
Need has jumped. The council's own housing needs evidence, published in March 2026, puts the minimum need at 1,010 homes a year for 2026 to 2041, up 38% on the previous figure of 731.
A screen industry on the doorstep. Borehamwood has a long history in film and television, and the 2013 plan recorded three studios there still in production. They bring jobs and demand for homes, and a competing demand for employment land.

Put simply, the borough is a long way behind on housing, most of its open land is protected, and its planning rules are over a decade old. Those three facts shape every conversation we have with landowners here.

Hertsmere in Figures

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

Housing Delivery Test 2025
26%
Below 75%: treated as having evidenced unmet housing need under national policy S5.
Homes built against homes needed
567
of 2,181 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
January 2013
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
Updated
Draft plan consultation April to May 2026; final draft due later in 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.

Three Draft Plans in Five Years

Few councils have gone back to the drawing board as often as Hertsmere. The history matters, because each draft left behind evidence, site assessments and local reactions that still colour how land is judged.

2021. A draft plan proposed more than 12,000 homes, including a new settlement at Bowmans Cross, 2,770 homes around Borehamwood and 900 south of Potters Bar. Local reporting said it drew 20,000 responses, and the council abandoned it in early 2022.
2024. A revised draft, consulted on until 29 May 2024, proposed 9,400 homes over 16 years, just under 590 a year, against a government need figure of 726. The council said it took more than 40% less Green Belt than the 2021 version, over 300 hectares less.
2026. Higher national housing figures sent the council back again. A new draft was consulted on between 16 April and 29 May 2026, and the council intends to publish its final version for comment later in 2026.

The deadline is fixed. To be examined under the current plan-making system, the council says it must submit the plan by 31 December 2026. Missing it would mean starting again under the new system, so the pressure to finish is real.

CPRE Hertfordshire, which opposes the scale of change, says the April 2026 draft allocates more than 1,000 hectares of Green Belt, and argues that the council's Green Belt assessment treats nearly all of it as grey belt. Whatever view one takes of that, it shows how far the council has had to move since 2024. For owners, the version published for final comment later this year is the one the inspector will examine, so the evidence behind a site needs to be in order before then. Our guide to how councils choose sites for a local plan sets out each stage in plain terms.

Bowmans Cross and the Larger Holdings

Bowmans Cross is the name given to a proposed new settlement near Radlett and Shenley, on the border with St Albans district. It was part of the 2021 draft and has returned since, and local reporting described it as a new village of around 5,000 homes. CPRE Hertfordshire's response to the 2026 draft points out that most of its homes would come after the end of the plan period.

That timing is typical of new settlements. They need new roads, schools and utilities before homes can follow, so councils usually pair them with smaller sites that can be built sooner. In a borough that has delivered a quarter of its requirement, sites that can start within a few years count for a great deal at examination.

What That Means for Other Land

If you own a larger holding that is not part of Bowmans Cross, the plan's reliance on a long-term settlement does not close the door. Inspectors look hard at whether a plan can deliver homes early enough, and a well evidenced site that can be built in the first five years has a clear argument. We pay for that evidence, from transport and drainage to Green Belt and landscape work, and put it in front of the council and the inspector.

How a 26% Result Plays Out on Green Belt Land

Any score under 75% means policy S5 regards the need for homes in Hertsmere as proven. In a less protected district that would support homes on many edge-of-settlement fields. Here it cannot do that directly, since the S5 route is switched off in the Green Belt and almost all of the countryside is Green Belt. The shortfall still does real work, but through other doors.

Route	Where it fits in Hertsmere	What decides it
Grey belt	Fields that are hemmed in by roads, housing or commercial land, such as land squeezed between the motorways and the edge of a town	Whether the land strongly contributes to checking sprawl, separating towns or protecting a historic town. The severe shortfall weighs heavily when the need test is applied.
Previously developed land	Yards, depots, former commercial sites and land with lawful non-farm buildings, of which the borough has many	The lawful use and the extent of existing buildings and hardstanding
Inside the towns and villages	Plots within Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Bushey, Radlett and the larger villages	Policy S4, which supports development unless its harm substantially outweighs its benefits
Near a station	Land within reasonable walking distance of Elstree & Borehamwood, Radlett or Potters Bar stations	The frequency of the service and the walking route, with minimum densities applying

Schemes on grey belt land also have to meet the Golden Rules, which include extra affordable housing, and they are set out in our grey belt guide. Those requirements reduce what a scheme can support, and we allow for them from our first look at a site.

The London Edge, the Motorways and Heritage

Hertsmere sits right against the capital, so the Green Belt purpose of checking London's sprawl is at its strongest along the southern boundary. Open land between Borehamwood or Bushey and the edge of London tends to be judged strictly, because it is exactly what the Green Belt was drawn to protect.

The motorways cut the other way. The M25, the M1 and the A1 all cross the borough, and in places they leave behind parcels of land that are visually and physically cut off from the open countryside. Those parcels can make a stronger grey belt case, although noise and air quality then shape where homes can go on the site.

Heritage is a quieter but real factor. The 2013 plan counted more than 330 listed buildings, 15 conservation areas and four scheduled ancient monuments in the borough, so the setting of an old village centre or a listed farmhouse can shape the layout of a nearby scheme. Where a holding runs down to a brook, the flood zones decide which part suits homes, and our flood risk guide explains how the sequential test works.

The Land We Look for in Hertsmere

Fields on the edge of Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Bushey or Radlett that are enclosed by existing development or roads.
Parcels cut off from the wider countryside by the M25, the M1 or the A1.
Former yards, depots and nurseries with a lawful commercial use, or anywhere else with existing buildings or hardstanding.
Land within walking distance of Elstree & Borehamwood, Radlett or Potters Bar stations.
Holdings around Shenley, Elstree and South Mimms that can deliver homes early in the plan period.
Sites with a safe road access, or a realistic way to create one.

Land that plainly keeps Borehamwood apart from north London, or that sits in open country with nothing around it, faces a harder test, and we will say so after our review. If there is a case to make, we make it at our own cost, and our how it works page explains what happens after the first call.

Questions About Land in Hertsmere

My land was in the 2021 draft but dropped out in 2024. Is it back in play?

Possibly. The 2026 draft had to find more homes than the 2024 version, so some land that was set aside has been looked at again. Even where a site is not included, the evidence prepared for earlier drafts can still help an application. We check where your land stands in each version.

Hertsmere is at 26%. Does that mean my Green Belt field will be approved?

No. The unmet need route stops at the Green Belt boundary, so a field here has to succeed another way: as grey belt, as previously developed land, as a site near a station with a good service, or as an allocation in the new plan. The low score gives the need for homes great weight in those tests, which is why it still matters.

Is it too late to get land into the new plan?

The main consultation stages have passed, but plans change at examination, and inspectors can ask councils to find more land if early delivery looks weak. A site with complete evidence is in the best position to be considered at that point.

What happens when Hertsmere becomes part of South West Hertfordshire?

From April 2028, Hertsmere, Three Rivers and Watford are due to be replaced by one new council. Plans in force then stay in force until the new council makes its own. Its first plan will cover all three areas, so land in Hertsmere will then be weighed alongside land around Watford and Rickmansworth.

Will the studios in Borehamwood affect land near them?

They increase demand for homes and for employment land, and the council has to balance both. Land close to the studios may be looked at for either use, and we consider both when we review a site.

Tell Us About Your Land in Hertsmere

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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.