Hertfordshire council area

Selling Land in St Albans

On 9 September 2026 St Albans adopted the local plan that replaces its District Local Plan Review of 1994, weeks after the inspectors reported the plan sound. The council has already been told to start another one, because the government's figure for the district's housing need is far higher than the plan provides.

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St Albans District at a Glance

St Albans City and District Council covers the cathedral city of St Albans, the town of Harpenden, the small town of London Colney, and villages including Redbourn, Wheathampstead, Bricket Wood, Chiswell Green, Park Street, How Wood, Colney Heath and Sandridge. Its western edge takes in the land east and north of Hemel Hempstead. Thameslink trains on the Midland Main Line give a fast service to central London, and the Abbey Line, a branch line with a less frequent service, connects St Albans and Watford.

46% in the Housing Delivery Test. The district built 1,220 homes against a requirement of 2,662 in the three years measured.
A brand new plan. The St Albans Local Plan (2026), in two parts with new policies maps, wholly replaces the District Local Plan Review of 1994.
Over 81% Green Belt. The plan records 13,141 hectares of Metropolitan Green Belt.
Three chalk streams. The Ver, the Colne and the Lea all flow through the district, and the plan notes that the Environment Agency classes the area as under serious water stress.
Part of North West Hertfordshire from 2028. The council is due to merge with Dacorum in a new unitary council from 1 April 2028.

The district therefore has something it lacked for three decades, an up-to-date strategy, and at the same moment a clear signal that the strategy is not the last word on where homes will go.

St Albans in Figures

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

Housing Delivery Test 2025
46%
Below 75%: treated as having evidenced unmet housing need under national policy S5.
Homes built against homes needed
1,220
of 2,662 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
September 2026
The plan currently used to decide applications.
New plan progress
Updated
Local Plan adopted 9 September 2026; work on the next plan has started
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.

What the Adopted Plan Allocates

The plan provides for 15,045 homes between April 2024 and March 2041, an average of 885 a year. It is stepped: 3,795 homes are expected in the first seven years to 2031, 6,050 in the five years after that and 5,200 in the final five. About 30% of the growth is directed to Hemel Garden Communities on the district's western edge, with further strategic sites around St Albans, Harpenden, Redbourn and London Colney.

Figures from the main modifications version of Part A of the plan, which the council adopted with the inspectors' changes.
Strategic site	Homes in the plan
East Hemel Hempstead (South)	2,400
East Hemel Hempstead (North)	1,600
North Hemel Hempstead	1,500
North St Albans	1,168
North East Harpenden	738
West Redbourn	594
East St Albans	511
Glinwell, St Albans	484
West of London Colney	324
North West Harpenden	293
Harper Lane, near Radlett	274

These sites went through years of assessment and two stages of hearings, so for them the question of principle is settled. In June 2026 the council also adopted two supplementary planning documents for Hemel Garden Communities, one on its framework and one on stewardship and placemaking. For most landowners, then, the interest lies less in the allocations themselves than in what the plan leaves unresolved.

Why a Second Plan Is Already Starting

The government's revised method for calculating housing need, published in December 2024, raised the figure for St Albans sharply. CPRE Hertfordshire's analysis at the time put it at 1,660 homes a year, against the 885 the adopted plan was built around. St Albans is one of 39 councils the government told to begin a new plan by the end of June 2026, and the council has said it aims to finish that plan by 2029.

The adopted plan also commits to its own early review. Policy SP1 says a review will start no later than a year after adoption, with a revised or replacement plan submitted for examination within three years.

The Reorganisation Complication

The council is due to be abolished in spring 2028, before its next plan can be completed. That work will pass to its successor, the new North West Hertfordshire council, which will also cover Dacorum. The call for sites and the Green Belt evidence gathered in the next eighteen months are likely to feed straight into it.

That makes the coming period a practical window. Land that was not chosen for the 2026 plan can be reassessed against a much higher need figure, and a site with its evidence already prepared is better placed than one being considered from scratch. What a council asks for when land is submitted, from plans to access details, is covered step by step in our call for sites guide.

Towns, Inset Villages and Green Belt Villages

The adopted plan places every settlement in one of six tiers, and the tier tells you a lot about the planning starting point for land in or around it.

Towns and larger villages. St Albans and Hemel Hempstead sit at the top, then Harpenden, London Colney, the large villages of Redbourn and Wheathampstead, and the medium-sized villages of Bricket Wood, Chiswell Green, How Wood and Park Street. The plan describes none of these as washed over by the Green Belt. Within them, policy S4 applies, so a proposal starts from a presumption of approval that only substantial harm can displace.
Green Belt villages. The sixth tier, Sandridge, Colney Heath, the Lea Valley Estate, Smallford, Sleapshyde and Gustard Wood, is described in the plan as washed over by the Green Belt. Limited infilling is allowed in villages under Green Belt policy, and land around them can be tested as grey belt.
Open countryside. Almost all of it is Green Belt, where policy S5 has no role, so the 46% result helps mainly by adding weight to the need test within the grey belt assessment.

The medium-sized villages are served by bus routes and the Abbey Line, and the countryside around them is broken up by roads, housing and the railway. Fragmented land does not automatically qualify as grey belt, but in our experience it is where the question most often has a real answer. Our grey belt guide sets out how the test is applied.

The Ver, Water Stress and the Freight Terminal

The River Ver flows through St Albans itself, close to the remains of the Roman town of Verulamium. The plan describes the Ver, the Colne and the Lea as three of only 210 chalk streams in the world, globally rare habitats, which together with the serious water stress is why drainage and water use are examined so closely here. A scheme needs a surface water strategy that protects the rivers and the chalk beneath them, and the floodplains of all three limit where homes can sit.

Heritage is the other constant. The plan counts 19 conservation areas and more than 800 listed buildings, and St Albans Cathedral and the Verulamium remains draw visitors from far afield. That history shapes density, heights and layout on nearby sites, though it rarely rules them out.

On the former Radlett Aerodrome at Park Street, the Secretary of State granted outline permission on appeal in July 2014 for a strategic rail freight interchange of about 419 hectares, including a Park Street and Frogmore relief road. It is now being built as SEGRO Logistics Park Radlett, with a main contractor appointed in 2025 for works expected to take about three years, and will bring warehouses, a rail freight terminal and more than 600 acres of green space. It will change traffic patterns and the character of the land around it, which is part of what we consider when assessing sites in that corner of the district.

The Land We Look for in St Albans District

Fields beside St Albans, Harpenden or London Colney that are not already part of an allocation.
Land around Chiswell Green, How Wood, Park Street, Bricket Wood, Redbourn or Wheathampstead where roads and housing already enclose it.
Sites within walking distance of a Thameslink station or an Abbey Line stop.
Yards, depots, glasshouse sites with lawful commercial use and other previously developed land.
Larger holdings that could be put forward for the next plan against the higher need figure.

Land in open country between the city and Harpenden, or in a river floodplain, faces a steeper climb, and we say so plainly. You can read how a partnership with us is structured on our option agreements guide.

Questions About Land in St Albans District

The new plan has just been adopted and my land is not in it. Is that the end of it?

No. The plan itself requires a review to start within a year, the government has told the council to prepare a new plan, and the housing need figure is close to double what the adopted plan provides. Land that was passed over this time will be looked at again, and some land can also come forward through applications under national policy.

Why does the 46% result still matter now there is a plan?

The result stands until the next Housing Delivery Test is published, and while it does the district is treated as having evidenced unmet need. That carries weight in the grey belt test and for land inside the towns and villages. It does not open the S5 route on Green Belt land.

My field is next to Chiswell Green. Is it Green Belt?

Chiswell Green is a medium-sized village in the plan, not one of the villages it describes as washed over, so land within the village is judged differently from the fields around it, which are Green Belt. Whether a particular field could be grey belt depends on how it relates to the village, the roads and the gaps between settlements, and that is part of our review.

Will merging with Dacorum change the rules for my land?

Not straight away. The adopted plan stays in force until the new North West Hertfordshire council replaces it. The practical change is that the next plan will look at both districts together, including land around Hemel Hempstead.

Our land runs down to the Ver. Can homes still go on it?

Often on part of it. Homes are usually kept to the land outside the floodplain, with the lower ground used for open space and drainage, which can also protect the river. We map the flood zones before advising on layout.

Tell Us About Your Land in St Albans

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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.