Kent council area
Selling Land in Tunbridge Wells
Checked on
Tunbridge Wells adopted a new Local Plan in December 2025 and delivered 93% of the homes it needed, yet its latest statement puts housing land at 4.7 years, short of five years. With most of the borough in the High Weald and a review of the plan under way, land here has two routes to weigh: an application where a site sits well against a settlement, and the review for the rest.
- We pay for the planning, at our own cost and risk
- Your price is agreed up front, in writing
- If planning is refused, you keep your land and owe nothing
In short
We buy land with development potential in Tunbridge Wells and welcome land of every kind there: fields and paddocks, inherited land, old yards and larger holdings.
Tunbridge Wells can show 4.7 years of housing land, short of the five years national policy expects. That shortfall is evidence of need which decisions must weigh, so a well placed field next to a town or village can make a case outside the local plan. It is not a guarantee. Land in the Green Belt faces stricter national tests. Its local plan dates from December 2025.
We look for 2 acres or more next to, or well related to, a town or village, with a road frontage or a way to get one.
The next step is a free, confidential desktop review. We tell you which route, if any, suits your land, with no obligation.
The Land We Buy in Tunbridge Wells
The shortfall, the western Green Belt and a review looking for land to 2044 each open a way in. The land we most want to look at:
- Fields outside both designations that sit against a town or village, where the shortfall does most work.
- Land near Pembury and on the edges of Royal Tunbridge Wells, where the adopted plan already found exceptional circumstances to release Green Belt.
- Yards and former commercial land in the western Green Belt.
- Village sites around Brenchley, Horsmonden, Lamberhurst or Benenden, sized to the place. The 120 homes the supply statement expects at Bassetts Farm, Horsmonden, show the scale a larger village can take.
- Sites without heavy infrastructure, where first homes could arrive within five years and count towards the land the council is short of.
- Larger holdings that could help the review find the homes the adopted plan left unplanned when Tudeley was deleted.
Open fields deep in the High Weald, and Green Belt land that clearly does the Green Belt's job, are harder, and our review will say so plainly.
Is Your Land in Tunbridge Wells a Good Fit?
You do not need to know the planning rules to sell land for development in Tunbridge Wells. These are the things that make a site a strong candidate:
- 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.
Ways to Sell Your Land in Tunbridge Wells
There are three common ways to sell land with development potential in Tunbridge Wells. They suit different owners, and the right one depends on whether your land needs planning permission before it is worth more.
- An outright sale. You sell the land as it stands today, privately or at auction. The price is what a buyer will pay for it without planning permission, and the buyer takes on everything that follows.
- A conditional contract. You agree a sale now, but it only completes if planning permission is granted. Until then you keep the land, and the agreement sets out who applies for permission and who pays.
- An option agreement, the route we use. We agree your price at the start, in writing, set above what your land is worth today. We then pay for and run all of the planning work, at our own cost and risk. If 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.
For land that needs planning permission before it is worth more, an option means you know your price before any work starts and never spend a penny on planning. The ways to sell land for development, compared sets out each route in full.
Selling Land in Tunbridge Wells: From First Call to Completion
Selling land for development under an option agreement follows the same steps wherever your land is.
- 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.
- A free desktop review. Within a few days we look at your land, the planning position in Tunbridge Wells and the routes open to it, and tell you plainly whether it suits us. The review is free and confidential, with no obligation.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
What the Local Plan Means If You Are Selling Land in Tunbridge Wells
Three things shape the chances of selling land for development in Tunbridge Wells: the government's latest count of homes built against those needed, the council's five-year housing land supply, and where its local plan stands.
Housing Delivery Test 2025
93%
Below 95%: the council must publish an action plan to improve delivery.
Five-year housing land supply
4.7 years
Short of five years: national policy treats this as evidence of unmet housing need. Position at 1 April 2026, measured against the adopted plan's 678 homes a year, with a shortfall of 537 homes since 2020 and a 20% buffer. Stated by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.
Checked sourceHomes built against homes needed
1,863
of 1,999 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
December 2025
The plan currently used to decide applications.
New plan progress
Latest step
Local Plan review started: call for sites extended to 26 October 2026
Checked source
See how Tunbridge Wells compares with the other 187 councils we cover
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.
The planning detail in full
A High Weald Borough With a 2025 Plan
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council covers Royal Tunbridge Wells and Southborough, which together form the main urban area, the service centres of Paddock Wood, Cranbrook and Hawkhurst, and smaller settlements including Pembury and Capel. The adopted plan draws limits to built development around its settlements and applies countryside policies beyond them.
- Seven tenths High Weald. The adopted plan records about 70% of the borough as High Weald National Landscape.
- Green Belt in the west. Around 22% of the borough, in its western part, is Metropolitan Green Belt. Taken together with the National Landscape, 75% of the borough is covered by one or both.
- A plan to 2038. The Local Plan 2020 to 2038 sets a minimum of 12,204 homes, or 678 a year.
- Paddock Wood at the centre of growth. The plan provides for a major expansion of Paddock Wood, including land at east Capel, on garden settlement principles.
The council has an up to date plan but, on its own latest figures, not quite enough land, and little of its countryside is free of a national designation. That combination shapes almost every site we look at here.
How the New Plan Came Together
The examination was a long one. Hearings began in March 2022, and in November 2022 the inspector issued initial findings raising concerns about the two largest proposals, Tudeley Village and the growth planned at Paddock Wood. The council reworked its strategy, consulted on the proposed changes between 17 March and 30 April 2025, and received the inspector's final report on 14 October 2025, which found the plan sound with those changes. Full Council adopted it in December 2025.
Tudeley Removed, Paddock Wood Kept
Tudeley Village was deleted. The adopted plan says plainly that, as a result, it does not provide for the full housing needs of the borough up to 2038. Instead it allocates enough land for about ten years from adoption and commits the council to an early review that looks for ways to meet the rest.
Paddock Wood remains the main growth location, and the plan describes its expansion as transformational. It also names the areas to the north and west of the town as particularly prone to flooding, which is why the strategy there is tied to flood risk solutions. The plan takes some land out of the Green Belt as well, notably at east Capel next to Paddock Wood and around Royal Tunbridge Wells and Pembury, where the council found exceptional circumstances.
For an owner selling land around Paddock Wood or east Capel, the flood solutions tied to the growth there are the evidence to understand first, because the plan's strategy for the town rests on them.
What Supply, Delivery and the 93% Result Mean for Selling Land
The council's latest Housing Land Supply Statement, published in September 2026 with a base date of 1 April 2026, finds 4.7 years of deliverable land. Its previous statement, nine months earlier, had reported more than five years. Setting the two side by side shows what changed:
| Part of the calculation | At 1 April 2025 | At 1 April 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly requirement in the adopted plan | 678 homes | 678 homes |
| Shortfall since 2020, spread over the next five years | 319 homes | 537 homes |
| Buffer | 5% | 20% |
| Five-year requirement with buffer | 3,897 homes | 4,712 homes |
| Deliverable supply | 4,367 homes | 4,436 homes |
| Result | 5.60 years | 4.7 years |
The supply barely moved; the requirement did. Completions fell to 460 homes in 2025/26, against 616 the year before, so the shortfall carried forward grew. The buffer rose to 20% under a national rule, applied to decisions since 1 July 2026, for plans adopted in the last five years that were examined against a framework older than December 2024 and plan for 80% or less of current need. The council puts that need at about 1,100 homes a year on its June 2026 calculation, against the plan's 678, and says the higher figure will be considered in the review.
Two Delivery Results, Both Above 85%
The December 2025 statement quoted a Housing Delivery Test result of 102%, confirmed in a government letter dated 30 April 2025. The Housing Delivery Test 2025, published since, gives the borough 93%. They cover different three-year periods, and the newer edition now applies. It sits above 85%, so the 20% buffer comes from the rule on recent plans, not from the test. It is below 95%, though, so the council now has to publish an action plan explaining why delivery fell short and how it will improve.
With supply below five years, the shortfall counts as evidence of unmet need under policy S5 of the August 2026 framework, even though the delivery result is above 75%. It is evidence to be weighed, not an automatic finding. S5 does not reach the Green Belt in the west, the High Weald's protection applies in full, and land must sit well against a settlement that roads, schools and drainage can serve. Outside both designations, roughly a quarter of the borough, a well related site therefore has a live argument now. Inside the limits to built development, policy S4 applies whatever the numbers say: a scheme there should be approved unless its harm would substantially outweigh its benefits.
Which Route Suits Your Land
Because the council has a recent plan but a supply below five years, the right route depends heavily on where a site sits:
| Where the land is | Most likely route | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the limits to built development of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Southborough or a village | An application under policy S4 | Design, neighbours, access and, in the villages, the High Weald |
| On the edge of Paddock Wood or another settlement outside the Green Belt | An application under policy S5 while supply is short, or the Local Plan Review | How well it relates to the settlement, the High Weald where it applies, and flood risk around Paddock Wood |
| In the Green Belt in the west of the borough | The review, or grey belt where the tests are met | Whether the parcel is genuinely grey belt, since the shortfall now supplies the evidence of need |
| Previously developed land, such as a yard or former commercial site | An application, often without waiting | National routes for reusing developed land, and the setting of the High Weald |
| Larger farmland holdings | The Local Plan Review | Scale, access to services, and the effect on the National Landscape |
On the Green Belt row, a parcel contributing little to the Green Belt's purposes can be argued today, subject to the Golden Rules on larger schemes. Our grey belt guide sets out each test in turn.
Selling Land in the High Weald
The High Weald takes in around seven tenths of the borough, including the towns of Cranbrook and Hawkhurst. The adopted plan limits development inside it to what can be accommodated while conserving its key characteristics, which it describes as mostly small scale, with larger proposals supported only in exceptional circumstances.
That policy already shaped the plan itself. The council reduced the growth proposed at Cranbrook and Hawkhurst compared with earlier drafts, precisely because both towns sit in the National Landscape. The plan also records congestion, capacity or safety problems on the A26, A264 and A228, and on the A229 in the centre of Hawkhurst, so access and junction capacity are tested closely on sites in those corridors.
What Tends to Work Inside the National Landscape
- Small sites that read as part of an existing village rather than an extension into open fields.
- Land enclosed by existing buildings, hedgerows or woodland, where views from the wider landscape are limited.
- Sites with a safe access that does not depend on widening a historic lane.
- Schemes designed around the local pattern of fields, woodland and building materials.
Our page on farmland explains how we look at larger holdings.
Putting Land Forward for the Review to 2044, Stage by Stage
The adopted plan committed the council to start a review within six months of adoption. It is being prepared under the new plan-making regulations that took effect in March 2026, and it covers 2029 to 2044. A call for sites opened on 11 May 2026 and has been extended to midnight on 26 October 2026, and a scoping consultation on what the review should contain ran from 14 July to 11 August 2026. The council's timetable, published on 26 June 2026, then shows:
- 30 October 2026: the first gateway self-assessment.
- 2 March to 15 April 2027: consultation on the proposed content of the plan and its evidence.
- 15 September 2027: the second gateway assessment.
- 30 November 2027 to 28 January 2028: consultation on the proposed Local Plan.
- 9 October 2028: submission to the government, with the council considering adoption on 30 April 2029.
West Kent Paused, and a Supply That Turns on Paddock Wood
Ministers decided on 16 July 2026 that Tunbridge Wells would join Maidstone, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge and Malling in a West Kent unitary council, which Kent County Council said would take over from April 2028. On 7 September 2026 the government paused reorganisation across Kent and Medway so that it could be reviewed. The May 2027 elections go ahead for the existing councils, and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council carries on preparing the review and deciding applications. Only if the change resumes on its original dates would the later stages of the review pass to a new council.
Delivery and supply come next. The latest yearly Housing Delivery Test, the Housing Delivery Test 2025, was released on 17 August 2026 and looks at April 2022 to March 2025. Under 75%, the council would be treated as having unmet need whatever its supply, and a result of 95% or more would end the need for an action plan. The last two supply statements appeared in December 2025 and September 2026. Two things will move the next: whether completions recover from 460 towards the plan's 678 a year, and how many of the 1,300 homes the council expects at Paddock Wood and east Capel within five years actually arrive on time.
The Call for Sites First, Applications Where Supply Allows
For most land outside the settlements, the call for sites is the way in, and the spring 2027 consultation on the plan's content and evidence is the next chance to shape the review. A site is far better placed then if its access, flood, ecology and landscape work is already done. Land inside a settlement, previously developed land, and well related land beyond the Green Belt need not wait while the supply is short. Each stage of a plan is walked through in our plan-making guide.
Questions About Selling Land in Tunbridge Wells
Is land in the High Weald worth a conversation with you?
Yes, as long as expectations fit the landscape. The plan still allows small scale development that conserves the High Weald's character, and larger schemes can be justified in exceptional circumstances. We will tell you frankly which of those your land is likely to be.
The plan was only adopted in 2025. Can a land shortfall really help my field already?
It can. The council's own statement puts its supply at 4.7 years, and policy S5 treats that shortfall as evidence that need is going unmet. That helps most where a field sits well against a town or village outside the Green Belt. Inside the High Weald the landscape tests still decide, so larger fields there usually suit the review.
Is it too late to put my land into the call for sites?
No. The council extended the call for sites to midnight on 26 October 2026, and the review has later stages, starting with the content and evidence consultation planned for spring 2027. The evidence behind a site matters more than the date it was first submitted.
Could the plan's unmet need help my land?
Possibly. The adopted plan accepts that it does not meet the borough's full needs to 2038 because Tudeley was removed, and the review has to find ways to meet that need.
Does flood risk rule out a field near Paddock Wood?
Not automatically. The plan identifies the land to the north and west of the town as particularly prone to flooding, but many fields have drier parts where homes can go. We check the flood maps and the plan's strategy for the town before giving a view.
What price will you pay for my land?
We agree a fixed price with you at the start, before any planning work begins, and it is set above what your land is worth today. We cannot name a figure before we have looked at your land, because it depends on the site itself: its size, its access, how many homes it could take and the costs that come off land value, such as affordable housing, road works and drainage. After the free desktop review we can talk about a price, and once agreed it is written into the agreement.
When would I be paid?
You receive the agreed price on completion, once planning permission has been secured. The agreement sets out the milestones along the way, and it continues while any planning application or appeal is being decided. Until completion you carry on using your land as you do now, and we pay for all of the planning. If permission is not granted, you keep your land and owe nothing.
More Questions Landowners Selling Land in Tunbridge Wells Ask
The same questions come up wherever land is put forward. Each is answered in full in our guides, and where Tunbridge Wells stands on housing shapes which matter most here.
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How the Price for Your Land Is Worked Out in an Option Agreement
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Should I Sell My Land With or Without Planning Permission First?
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Selling Land for Development, Step by Step: From First Thought to Completion
How selling land for development works, stage by stage: title checks, a free review, heads of terms, the agreement, planning, completion and tax.
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Who Pays the Fees in a Land Deal: Solicitors, Agents, Surveys and Planning
Who pays the solicitor, land agent, surveys, planning fees, stamp duty and VAT when you sell land to a developer, model by model, with 2026 figures.
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Selling Land in Tunbridge Wells? Tell Us About It
It takes about two minutes. We only need your postcode, your name and a phone number or email; the rest helps us look properly.
- We reply within 2 working days, by phone or email, whichever you prefer.
- The desktop review is free and confidential, with no obligation.
- If we agree terms, we pay for all of the planning, which on a larger site can reach £300,000.
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Sources
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Adopted Borough Local Plan
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Local Plan 2020 to 2038, adopted December 2025
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Examination of the Local Plan and latest news
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Housing Land Supply Statement 2024/2025 (December 2025)
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Housing Land Supply Statement 2025/2026 (September 2026)
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Local Plan Review overview
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Local Plan Review call for sites (extended to 26 October 2026)
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Local Plan Review timetable (June 2026)
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council: Updates on Tunbridge Wells Local Plan Review 2029 (July 2026)
- Talking Point Tunbridge Wells: Local Plan Review scoping consultation (July 2026)
- Kent County Council: Ministers decide future shape of Kent and Medway's councils (July 2026)
- GOV.UK: Review of local government reorganisation launched (7 September 2026)
Figures on this page come from the Housing Delivery Test 2025 (published 17 August 2026) and the Planning Inspectorate's local plan monitoring to August 2026, with newer plan milestones checked on 24 September 2026. We update the page when new results or plan milestones are published. Planning positions change quickly, so always check the council's own website before relying on it.