Kent council area

Selling Land in Swale

Swale has no Green Belt, a housing delivery result of 70% and a final draft Local Plan published in August 2026. For landowners around Sittingbourne, Faversham, Sheppey and the villages between them, that is an unusually open set of routes to planning.

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Swale at a Glance

Swale Borough Council covers Sittingbourne, the market town of Faversham and the Isle of Sheppey, with Queenborough, Eastchurch and Leysdown, together with villages such as Iwade, Teynham, Newington, Upchurch and Boughton under Blean, and farmland running south towards the Kent Downs.

Outside the Green Belt. Swale has no officially designated Green Belt, so the Green Belt tests that dominate west Kent do not apply.
Behind on delivery. Swale scored 70% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, below the 75% line that matters most for unallocated land.
A plan from 2017. The current plan, Bearing Fruits 2031, was adopted in July 2017.
A final draft out for comment. Comments on the Regulation 19 draft plan closed on 21 September 2026, and the council's timetable points to submission at the end of the year.

Swale's housing target also barely moved when national policy changed in December 2024, rising from 1,040 to 1,048 homes a year, so the pressure here comes from under-delivery against an existing figure rather than from a sudden jump.

Swale in Figures

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

Housing Delivery Test 2025
70%
Below 75%: treated as having evidenced unmet housing need under national policy S5.
Homes built against homes needed
2,186
of 3,109 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
July 2017
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
Updated
Final draft plan consultation 10 August to 21 September 2026; submission planned for the end of 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.

Why Swale Is a Strong Place to Put Land Forward

A 70% score brings policy S5 of the National Planning Policy Framework into play, and with no Green Belt anywhere in Swale it reaches every settlement edge, from Iwade to Boughton under Blean. Land that adjoins a settlement properly, where roads, schools and drainage can cope now or through planned works, should be approved unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits.

Location still decides it. A field backing onto Teynham's houses with a lane frontage makes a strong case, while one separated from the village by open fields does not, and the constraints further down this page settle many of the rest. What S5 does mean is that well placed land here need not wait for the new plan to be adopted before an application goes in.

Where the Policy Tends to Bite

The edges of Sittingbourne and Faversham, where land against the built-up area and with a road frontage can make a strong case.
The villages, such as Teynham, Newington and Boughton under Blean, where the scale needs to suit the village.
Sheppey, where flood risk and the protected marshes need checking field by field before we give a view.
Larger holdings, which can come forward through the plan as well as through an application.

The stages from our first look at a field to a council decision are set out in how long planning takes.

The Draft Local Plan to 2042

The final draft plan, as reported locally, runs to 2042 and sets out a need for 17,024 homes, of which 7,167 already have permission or a resolution to grant, leaving 9,857 for the plan to find. It follows a first consultation from 12 January to 23 February 2026 that dealt with the vision and policies but allocated no land, because the council held site choices back after the Highsted Park inquiry was extended in June 2025. The published draft now names its sites.

Why the Council's Own Page Still Says 2038

Anyone reading the council's Local Plan Review page will find it describing a plan for the period to 2038, while the published draft runs to 2042. The two are not in real conflict. The 2038 sentence is the page's general introduction to the review, and the review has since been restarted on a new timetable, agreed by councillors on 30 July 2025, which is the timetable the 2026 consultations have followed. Local plans are expected to look well ahead from adoption, and a plan submitted at the end of 2026 would have barely a decade to run if it stopped in 2038. For a landowner, 2042 is the date that counts: it is the period the housing figures and site allocations have been built around, and the one the inspector will examine.

Area	Main proposals in the final draft
Sittingbourne	At least 2,500 homes west of Bobbing, with a primary school, health centre and country park, and six town centre regeneration sites for at least 240 homes, led by the former Bell Centre.
Faversham	Six allocations for at least 2,879 homes, led by South East Faversham on Duchy of Cornwall land between the A2 and the M2, plus Graveney Road (177 homes), the former Norton Ash Garden Centre (100) and Lion Field (68).
Isle of Sheppey	About 1,795 homes or park-home equivalents, led by more than 870 around Queenborough and Rushenden, with four sites at Eastchurch, Leysdown and Warden for 387.
Villages	359 homes across Upchurch, Teynham and Newington, and 25 on two sites at Boughton under Blean.

The plan and the comments received will then go to the government for examination by an independent inspector. Figures are taken from local reporting of the published draft and may change at examination.

Applying While the Plan Is Examined

A submitted plan carries more weight than an early draft, and the council is likely to lean on it against very large unallocated proposals, such as the up to 1,815 homes sought at Winterbourne Fields south of Dunkirk, which the council's latest land assessment found unsuitable. A modest site on the edge of a town or village raises none of the big questions the plan exists to settle, which is why S5 and the plan can often run side by side.

Highsted Park

Separately, Quinn Estates' proposals for up to 8,400 homes south and east of Sittingbourne and west of Teynham, with a new M2 junction, were called in for a government decision and went to what local reporting describes as the longest public inquiry into a housing-led scheme the Planning Inspectorate has considered. The decision had been expected by 30 September 2026 but has been put back to 12 November 2026 or earlier. It is not a Local Plan allocation, but the outcome will affect the wider picture for land around Sittingbourne either way.

Estuary Birds, Nutrients and the Downs

The North Kent Marshes

The North Kent Marshes are protected as Special Protection Areas and Ramsar sites for their birds. New homes within 6km of these sites pay a contribution per home towards the work of Bird Wise, the partnership of councils and conservation bodies that manages visitor pressure on the marshes. The council's published tariff rose from £337.49 to £350.16 per home on 1 April 2026 and is indexed each year. The council publishes a map showing the 6km zone. It is a known, modest cost that we build in from the start.

Stodmarsh: A Small Corner Only

Most of Swale is outside the Stodmarsh nutrient area. The council says the requirement affects only a small part of the borough east and south of Dunkirk and east of Oversland. Land there needs a nutrient solution before homes can be approved. Everywhere else the issue does not arise.

The Kent Downs

The Kent Downs National Landscape reaches into the south of the borough around the M2. In its comments on Highsted Park, the Kent Downs team pointed out that the proposed new motorway junction would sit inside the National Landscape and that the new village proposed just north of the motorway would be close to its boundary. Major development inside it needs exceptional circumstances, and land near the boundary is judged on its effect on views from the Downs.

What New Homes in Swale Will Be Expected to Pay For

Planning permission comes with obligations, and Swale's draft policies go further than national minimums in some areas. The January 2026 draft proposed:

30% affordable housing on greenfield sites.
20% biodiversity net gain, double the national requirement of 10%.
No fossil fuel heating, such as gas boilers, in new homes.

On top of the bird contribution come section 106 payments for schools, roads and health, and one councillor responding to the final draft warned of pressure on the island's overstretched single road link, GP services and secondary school places on Sheppey. All of this comes out of the value of a scheme, so the planning work has to be thorough and well costed from the outset. Section 106 and CIL and biodiversity net gain each have their own guide. When we agree a price with you, these costs are already allowed for, and none of them fall on you.

Land We Look for in Swale

Fields of 2 acres or more on the edges of Sittingbourne, Faversham, Iwade or the Sheppey villages.
Land beside Teynham, Newington, Upchurch or Boughton under Blean that sits well against existing homes.
Sites mostly in Flood Zone 1, particularly on Sheppey and near the marshes.
Former orchards, farmyards and commercial sites next to a settlement.
Land within walking distance of a railway station or a town centre.

Land in the Kent Downs or out on the open marshes is harder, and we will be straight with you about that in our review.

Questions About Land in Swale

Swale is at 70% and has no Green Belt. Can I apply now rather than wait for the plan?

Often, yes. With no Green Belt in the borough, a site that adjoins Sittingbourne, Faversham or one of the larger villages properly can be put forward under policy S5 now. It still has to deal with access, flooding, landscape and the bird contribution, and we assess all of these before recommending an application.

My land is not in the final draft plan. Is that the end of it?

No. Omitted sites can still be argued before the inspector, and a field that sits well against a town or village edge can be taken forward by application while the examination runs.

What happens if Highsted Park is approved?

It would add a large supply of homes south of Sittingbourne over many years, alongside the 2,500 homes planned west of Bobbing. The borough would still need homes in the meantime, and around Faversham, Sheppey and the villages whatever the decision. We will look at your land in light of it.

Do I need to worry about Stodmarsh?

Only if your land is in the small area near Dunkirk and Oversland that the council identifies. Most of Swale is outside it.

I farm on Sheppey. Is it worth asking?

It can be. The draft plan already looks to Sheppey for a share of the borough's homes, so the island is not closed to growth. Flood risk and the protected marshes vary from one field to the next, so we check the Environment Agency flood maps and the council's plans for the island before giving a view. Our page on farmland explains what we look for.

Tell Us About Your Land in Swale

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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.