Areas we cover
Selling Land in Norfolk
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North Norfolk built barely half the homes it needed yet reports more than five years of land, while Breckland builds well above target and is short of land. Around Norwich, three councils plan together and are counted together. Across much of the county, a field's prospects also turn on which river it drains to, because nutrient rules protecting the Wensum and the Broads have held back new homes since 2022.
- 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 across Norfolk and welcome land of every kind in all seven of its council areas: fields and paddocks, inherited land, old yards and larger holdings.
Four of Norfolk's seven councils are short of the five years of housing land national policy expects, and one built fewer than 75% of the homes it needed in the government's latest count. In those council areas, national policy counts that as evidence that more homes are needed, so a well placed field next to a town or village can make a case outside the local plan, weighed with everything else. Elsewhere the local plan is the surest route. Land in the Green Belt faces stricter national tests. The table below shows each council.
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.
Council by Council
The three Greater Norwich rows match because they share one delivery figure and one supply figure.
| Council | Housing Delivery Test 2025 | Five-year land supply | Most recent strategic plan adopted | New plan progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breckland | 144% | 2.82 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2025: Breckland Council: Statement of Five-Year Housing Land Supply (December 2025) | November 2019 | Final draft Local Plan 2025 to 2043 consultation ran July to 23 September 2026; council timetable puts submission on 31 December 2026 and adoption in June 2028Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Broadland | 111%Joint result for the Greater Norwich Local Plan area (Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk) | 4.85 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2025: Greater Norwich authorities: Housing Land Supply Assessment, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030 | March 2024 | Greater Norwich Local Plan 2045 started: calls for sites February to July 2026, scoping consultation 17 August to 28 September 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Great Yarmouth | 92%Action plan | 6.06 yearsAt April 2026: Great Yarmouth Borough Council: Great Yarmouth Local Plan 2024 to 2042, adoption version (September 2026) | September 2026 | Local Plan 2024 to 2042 adopted 24 September 2026, replacing the 2015 Core Strategy and 2021 Local Plan Part 2Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 100% | 6.2 yearsAt April 2026: Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk: 5-year housing land supply position and Housing Delivery Test (2025-26 monitoring period) | March 2025 | No recent stage listed |
| North Norfolk | 54%Below 75%: unmet need | 7.3 yearsAt March 2025: North Norfolk District Council: Five-Year Supply of Housing Land 2025 to 2030 (September 2025) | December 2025 | Local Plan adopted 17 December 2025; next plan scoping consultation held 20 July to 31 August 2026, with Gateway 1 timetabled for 31 October 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Norwich | 111%Joint result for the Greater Norwich Local Plan area (Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk) | 4.85 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2025: Greater Norwich authorities: Housing Land Supply Assessment, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030 | March 2024 | Greater Norwich Local Plan 2045 started: calls for sites February to July 2026, scoping consultation 17 August to 28 September 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| South Norfolk | 111%Joint result for the Greater Norwich Local Plan area (Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk) | 4.85 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2025: Greater Norwich authorities: Housing Land Supply Assessment, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030 | March 2024 | Greater Norwich Local Plan 2045 started: calls for sites February to July 2026, scoping consultation 17 August to 28 September 2026Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
Sources: Housing Delivery Test: 2025 measurement, MHCLG, published 17 August 2026; Local plans: monitoring progress, Planning Inspectorate, August 2026, with later milestones we have checked on council and government websites marked "Checked". Five-year land supply figures come from each council's own latest statement, or the latest figure tested at appeal, linked in each row. A Housing Delivery Test result below 75%, or a supply short of five years, counts as evidence of unmet housing need under policy S5 of the NPPF. Local plans move quickly, so always check the council's own website for the latest position.
Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk
The three councils adopted the Greater Norwich Local Plan in March 2024. It plans for about 40,550 homes from 2018 to 2038 and provides for at least 45,041, most in and around the Norwich urban area, with 10,119 in the Growth Triangle north east of the city. Aylsham, Diss, Harleston, Long Stratton and Wymondham are its main towns, and its next review must weigh "the potential for a sustainable new settlement or settlements".
Supply is also counted jointly, and two positions have to be read together. The joint assessment at 1 April 2025 finds 4.85 years. Against the plan's remaining requirement of 1,940 homes a year plus a 5% buffer, it needs 10,187 homes over five years and counts 9,888: 3,931 in Broadland, 1,510 in Norwich and 4,447 in South Norfolk, a gap of 299. The councils' April 2026 report then set out a stricter test. The plan's requirement is 78% of the government's current figure of about 2,590 homes a year, so from 1 July 2026 a 20% buffer applies to decisions, "effectively requiring a six-year land supply". On the assessment's count, that buffer lifts the five-year requirement to about 11,640 homes, a gap of some 1,750. No assessment on that basis had been published by September 2026, so for a planning application the shortfall is wider than the headline figure shows.
The Greater Norwich Local Plan 2045 began with calls for sites in February to March and June to July 2026 and a scoping consultation from 17 August to 28 September 2026. The April 2026 report set out Gateway 1 by 30 October 2026, consultations in 2027 and 2028, examination in late 2028 or early 2029 and adoption around April 2029.
Breckland
Breckland covers the Brecks and mid Norfolk, with Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton its market towns. It has built far more than its requirement, yet its December 2025 statement finds only 2.82 years at 1 April 2025. The reason is the plan's age. The Local Plan was first adopted on 28 November 2019, and the statement treats its housing trajectory as lapsed from 29 November 2024, so supply is measured against the government's higher figure of 920 homes a year. With a 5% buffer, the council needs 4,830 homes over five years and counts 2,720.
A replacement plan for 2025 to 2043 proposes a new Roudham and Larling Strategic Development Area, with three primary schools, a high school and a doctors' surgery. Its Regulation 19 consultation closed on 23 September 2026 with more than 800 representations, and the council's timetable puts submission on 31 December 2026 and, provisionally, adoption in June 2028.
North Norfolk
North Norfolk covers Cromer, Sheringham, North Walsham, Fakenham, Holt and the coast between. Its plan, adopted in December 2025, requires 8,900 homes from 2024 to 2040, with about 2,000 at North Walsham West. Its latest statement finds 7.3 years at 31 March 2025, counting 4,107 deliverable homes against the standard method figure of 536 homes a year plus a 5% buffer; against the plan's own 557 a year the council gives 7.0 years. The plan's inspector, on older monitoring, forecast 3,712 homes for 2025 to 2030, 5.9 years. The statement predates the Housing Delivery Test 2025, and the council's own page now says the 54% result requires an action plan and a 20% buffer, and that unmet need is deemed to exist for policy S5. With a 20% buffer, the five-year requirement becomes roughly 3,220 homes on the standard method or 3,340 on the plan figure, both below the 4,107 counted, so it is the delivery result, not supply, that opens the door here.
King's Lynn and West Norfolk
The borough runs from Hunstanton and the Wash down through King's Lynn to Downham Market and the fens. It adopted its plan to 2040 in March 2025 and delivered 100% of its requirement in the Housing Delivery Test 2025. Its 2025/26 monitoring gives two figures for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031. The 6.9 years is for plan-making, the figure the council uses in preparing its next local plan. The 6.2 years is for decision-making, the one it applies to planning applications and so the one that counts now. Part of Wisbech's planned growth lies on the Norfolk side of the boundary, which our Cambridgeshire pages cover from the other side.
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth covers the town, Gorleston, Caister and villages towards the Broads. Its new Local Plan, for 2024 to 2042, was found sound subject to main modifications in the inspectors' report received on 24 August 2026, and adopted in September 2026. The inspectors found that the plan's 380 homes a year is 72% of the government's figure of 525, so a 20% buffer applies to decisions, and that on a flat 380 the council could not show five years; they set a stepped requirement instead, 353 a year to 2027/28, then 380, then 394. On that basis the adopted plan shows 6.06 years from 1 April 2026, buffer included. The plans it replaced had set 363 a year. The inspectors also expected work on a new plan to start straight after adoption, to meet the gap between 380 and 525. Delivery at 92% means the council must prepare an action plan.
The Land We Look for in Norfolk
- Fields of 2 acres or more on the edge of a town or larger village.
- Land around Norwich and along the A11 between Wymondham and Thetford.
- Sites on the edge of North Norfolk's towns, outside the National Landscape and the coastal strip.
- Land with a road frontage, mostly in Flood Zone 1 and away from the fens and the Broads flood plain.
- Larger holdings of 20 acres or more, including land that could supply nutrient mitigation or green space.
Land in the Broads, the Brecks or the National Landscape is not ruled out, but the bar is higher. See farmland we buy for how we assess larger holdings.
The planning detail in full
Seven Councils, the Broads and a Joint Count for Norwich
Norfolk's seven district councils each decide applications in their own area, and Norfolk County Council deals with minerals, waste, roads and schools. Inside the Broads, the Broads Authority decides.
- One council below 75%. North Norfolk delivered 54% of its requirement in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, the lowest in the county, so unmet housing need is treated as evidenced there.
- One action plan. Great Yarmouth scored 92%, below 95%, which means an action plan; the test adds a buffer only below 85%.
- A joint Greater Norwich result. The government measures Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk together, as the area of their shared plan: 6,565 homes against 5,902 required, 111%. That is the Greater Norwich figure, not any one council's own score.
- Delivery and supply pull apart. Breckland reached 144% yet reports 2.82 years of land, and the Greater Norwich councils, again jointly, 4.85 years. King's Lynn and West Norfolk, North Norfolk and Great Yarmouth, on its newly adopted plan, report five years or more.
- Reorganisation withdrawn. On 7 September 2026 the government withdrew its reorganisation decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk for a review, and said the May 2027 elections would use existing boundaries. The seven councils keep deciding applications.
What Shapes Planning in Norfolk
Nutrient Neutrality in the Wensum and Broads Catchments
In 2022 Natural England advised North Norfolk that, in large parts of the district, new homes should only be approved if they would not add to nutrient pollution in the River Wensum or the Broads, both protected habitats sites. The council says "the Norfolk authorities, including North Norfolk, have been unable to grant many new planning permissions in the affected areas", and the Greater Norwich councils blame their supply shortfall largely on it. The rule reaches any new overnight accommodation, not only homes. The councils' answer is the shared Norfolk Environmental Credit Scheme. For a landowner this is a cost and timing question more than a bar.
The Brecks, the Coast and Visitor Pressure
More homes mean more visitors to Norfolk's protected heaths, coast and wetlands, a pressure the councils address jointly through the Norfolk Green Infrastructure and Recreational Impact Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (GIRAMS), which the North Norfolk inspector found could mitigate it. For a housing site it is a cost to allow for, and we allow for it from the first appraisal.
The Broads
The Broads has "the status of a national park", and inside its boundary the Broads Authority decides applications under its 2019 local plan. It submitted a replacement on 16 February 2026, and the authority's examination page schedules hearing sessions for the weeks commencing 1 and 8 February 2027.
The Norfolk Coast National Landscape
First designated in 1968, the Norfolk Coast National Landscape covers 453 square kilometres in three pieces: one just north of King's Lynn, taking in part of the Sandringham Estate; the coast from Old Hunstanton to Weybourne and on to Bacton, leaving out the built-up areas of Sheringham, Cromer and Mundesley; and Sea Palling to Winterton-on-Sea. Major development inside it faces a very high bar, and land in its setting is judged on its effect on views and character.
An Eroding Coast East of Cromer
North Norfolk's inspector noted that the district "is affected more than most by an eroding coastline east of Cromer". Its policies control development in the strip at risk of erosion over the next 100 years, so land near those cliffs is judged on how long it would last. Flooding is a separate test, covered in our flood risk guide.
No Green Belt Around Norwich
The Greater Norwich plan says the area "does not have the exceptional circumstances required by Government to establish a Green Belt". Policy S5 does not apply in the Green Belt, so around Norwich no edge-of-settlement field is ruled out of it on that ground, and grey belt tests do not arise.
Where Growth Is Focused
The Greater Norwich plan ties its key strategic sites to the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor, "a globally significant axis between Cambridge University, UEA/NRP and their associated businesses". The places we watch most closely are:
| Area | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Norwich fringe and the Growth Triangle | The core of the Greater Norwich plan, with a joint supply short of five years. |
| Wymondham, Hethersett, Cringleford and Long Stratton | Towns and fringe villages south of the city with large planned growth. |
| Attleborough, Dereham, Thetford and Roudham | Breckland towns in a district short of land, with a new strategic site proposed. |
| North Walsham, Fakenham and Cromer | North Norfolk's main towns, where delivery is below 75% and the new plan allocates the largest sites. |
| King's Lynn and Downham Market | The borough's main towns, with a recent plan and five years of land, so the next plan is the route for larger sites. |
What This Means for Your Land
Each council offers a different route, and nutrient rules sit over most of them:
- Unmet need in North Norfolk. Below 75%, policy S5 treats unmet need as evidenced, so a field adjoining a town or larger village, with roads and drainage that can cope, can make its case now.
- A supply shortfall in Breckland and around Norwich. The shortfall is evidence of unmet need to be weighed under S5, not an automatic finding. Within built-up areas across the county, policy S4 allows refusal only where the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits.
- The local plans. Greater Norwich has gathered sites for a review that must look at new settlements, and Breckland's plan is heading for examination. Our guide to calls for sites explains when land is best put forward.
- Where the plan is fresh. King's Lynn and West Norfolk and Great Yarmouth both have new plans and last reported five years of land, so the next review is the main route for larger fields. Plots inside settlements, rural exception and small sites can move sooner, and land put forward with evidence already prepared, at our cost, is better placed when that review chooses sites.
- Nutrients from the start. In the Wensum and Broads catchments we work out the nutrient budget and mitigation before an application goes in.
- Council delivery
- 54% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, so unmet need is treated as evidenced under policy S5
- Constraints
- Outside the National Landscape and the coastal erosion zone, drains to the Wensum catchment, mostly Flood Zone 1
- Likely route
- An outline application with nutrient credits secured, while the land is also put forward to the new plan
- Your costs
- None. Every planning cost, including any appeal, is paid by us
- What we would offer
- An option agreement at a price agreed at the start and paid on completion once permission is secured
An illustration of how we think about a site, not a real offer. Every site is different, and our free desktop review looks at the specific field.
Elsewhere the route changes with the council, so we check council, catchment and landscape first. Our option agreements guide explains the agreement itself.
Questions About Norfolk
My land drains into the River Wensum. Is it still worth pursuing?
Often, yes. Nutrient neutrality adds cost and time, but the councils set up the Norfolk Environmental Credit Scheme so that homes in the catchment can buy mitigation rather than wait. We check the catchment and likely cost in our review.
Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk all show 111%. Is that each council's own result?
No. The government measures the three together because they share the Greater Norwich Local Plan, so the result, and the supply figure, belong to the whole area. What matters for your field is the joint supply shortfall and where the land sits in the plan.
North Norfolk says it has more than five years of land. Can I still apply?
Yes. Its delivery result of 54% is below 75%, so unmet need is treated as evidenced under policy S5 whatever the supply figure says. A well related site still has to deal with access, nutrients and the landscape.
My land is next to the Broads. Who decides?
Inside the Broads boundary, the Broads Authority decides under its own plan. Outside it, the district council decides, but still weighs the effect on the Broads landscape and, in most places, on nutrients.
What does the reorganisation review mean for land in Norfolk?
For now, very little. The government withdrew its Norfolk decision on 7 September 2026 for a review and said the May 2027 elections would use existing boundaries, so the seven councils carry on under their plans and the reviews already under way continue.
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.
Tell Us About Your Land in Norfolk
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.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Housing Delivery Test, 2025 measurement
- Planning Inspectorate: Local plans, monitoring progress
- Greater Norwich authorities: Housing Land Supply Assessment, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030
- South Norfolk and Broadland councils: Notice to Commence Plan Making, Communities, Housing and Planning Policy Development Panel (April 2026)
- Greater Norwich Local Plan: The Strategy, including policies (March 2024)
- Breckland Council: Statement of Five-Year Housing Land Supply (December 2025)
- Breckland Council: Emerging Local Plan 2025 to 2043 (September 2026)
- North Norfolk District Council: Five-year supply of housing land and Housing Delivery Test (August 2026)
- Planning Inspectorate: Report on the examination of the North Norfolk Local Plan (October 2025)
- Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk: 5-year housing land supply position and Housing Delivery Test (2025/26)
- Great Yarmouth Borough Council: Local Plan Inspectors' Report (August 2026)
- Great Yarmouth Borough Council: Great Yarmouth Local Plan 2024 to 2042, adoption version (September 2026)
- Broads Authority: Local Plan for the Broads review (September 2026)
- Norfolk Coast Partnership: About the Norfolk Coast National Landscape
- GOV.UK: Review of local government reorganisation launched (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.
Other Counties We Cover
24 counties, 159 councils
45 of those councils are below 75% in the government's Housing Delivery Test 2025. Point to a county to see its figures.