Staffordshire council area

Selling Land in Cannock Chase

Checked on 29 September 2026

Cannock Chase adopted a new local plan in March 2026, built on 264 homes a year, in a district where around three fifths of the land is Green Belt and heathland of European importance sits at its centre. The council's July 2026 update put its five-year supply margin at 0.6 of a home, and it has started a plan to 2046 that must provide for almost twice as many homes each year.

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In short

We buy land in Cannock Chase and welcome land of every kind there: fields and paddocks, inherited land, old yards and larger holdings.

Cannock Chase can show 5 years of housing land, more than the five years national policy expects, and built 115% of the homes it needed in the government's latest count. So the surest routes here are the local plan, for land on the edge of towns and villages, and sites within them, where national policy generally supports new homes. Its local plan dates from March 2026.

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.

Cannock Chase in Figures

The government's latest figures for the council, its latest five-year housing land supply, and where its local plan stands.

Housing Delivery Test 2025
115%
Meeting its housing requirement.
Five-year housing land supply
5 years
Five years or more of deliverable housing land. Position at 31 March 2025, measured against the adopted Local Plan requirement of 264 homes a year, plus the 20% buffer applied for decisions from 1 July 2026. Stated by Cannock Chase District Council.
Checked source
Homes built against homes needed
884
of 771 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
March 2026
The plan currently used to decide applications.
New plan progress
Latest step
Local Plan 2018 to 2040 adopted 23 March 2026; a new Local Plan 2026 to 2046 started with a notice on 26 June 2026 and a scoping consultation from 3 August to 14 September 2026; the council's timetable (updated 23 September 2026) puts Gateway 1 in October 2026, consultation on a proposed draft plan in February to March 2028 and adoption in April 2029
Checked source

See how Cannock Chase compares with the other 166 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 Land We Look for in Cannock Chase

Plots, backland and redundant buildings within Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley and Heath Hayes.
Yards, former commercial sites and hardstanding in the Green Belt with a lawful use.
Fields on the edge of Norton Canes, Heath Hayes, Brereton or Hednesford, enclosed by roads or housing.
Land outside the National Landscape that could help meet the new plan's higher figure.
Small sites at Cannock Wood and the other villages, including rural exception land.

For a field whose route is the new plan, the work starts well before submission: access, drainage, ecology, landscape, the SAC contribution and the Green Belt case. We meet the whole cost, under an option agreement whose price is set on day one, above current-use value. The land stays in your use meanwhile, and without permission you keep it and owe nothing; each stage is on our how it works page.

The planning detail in full

Three Towns Wrapped Around the Chase

The district takes in Cannock, Hednesford and Rugeley, with parishes including Heath Hayes and Wimblebury, Norton Canes, Brereton, Bridgtown and Cannock Wood. It covers about 79 square kilometres and had 100,519 residents at the 2021 Census, on the adopted plan's count. South Staffordshire lies to the west, Stafford to the north, Lichfield to the east and the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the south.

Green Belt over most open land. The council's Green Belt topic paper of December 2023 put about 4,830 hectares, 61.2% of the district, in the West Midlands Green Belt; the adopted plan says around 60%.
A National Landscape at its heart. The scoping document for the next plan records that 40% of the district is National Landscape, all of it Green Belt apart from the villages it identifies.
Heathland of European standing. Part of the Chase is a Special Area of Conservation, in the council's words one of the best areas in the UK for European dry heath and the most extensive in the Midlands.
A power station turning into a neighbourhood. The former Rugeley Power Station straddles the boundary with Lichfield district and is allocated for residential led mixed use.

A Supply Margin the Council Puts at 0.6 of a Home

Adoption changed the yardstick. The council's statement of March 2026 found 5.72 years against the new plan's 264 homes a year with a 5% buffer. A national rule then changed the buffer, and the July 2026 update reworked the same sites on the same base date of 31 March 2025:

Source: Cannock Chase District Council five-year supply position statements of March 2026 and July 2026.
Part of the calculation	March 2026 statement	July 2026 update
Yearly requirement	264 homes, from the adopted plan	264 homes
Five years at that rate	1,320 homes	1,320 homes
Buffer	5%, or 66 homes	20%, or 264 homes
Requirement with buffer	1,386 homes	1,584 homes
Deliverable supply	1,584.6 homes	1,584.6 homes
Margin	198.6 homes	0.6 of a home
Result	5.72 years	5 years

Of the supply, 662 homes are on sites the new plan allocates and 708 on larger sites with permission or under way; small sites, less a 27% non-implementation discount, and a windfall allowance of 54 make up the rest. The appendix counts 400 homes from the former power station within the five years.

Why the Buffer Went From 5% to 20%

Delivery is not the reason: the July update cites 191% in the 2023 test and "no record of under delivery", and the Housing Delivery Test 2025 has since recorded 115%. The cause is paragraph 78(c) of the framework. Since 1 July 2026 it adds a 20% buffer, for decisions only, when three things hold: the requirement was adopted within the last five years, it was examined under a framework earlier than December 2024, and it is no more than 80% of the standard method figure. Cannock Chase meets all three. The plan was adopted on 23 March 2026. The inspector examined it against the September 2023 framework. And the council's report to Full Council on 23 March 2026 says the December 2024 framework "doubled the annual housing requirement for the District", to 527 homes a year, so 264 is about half.

What a Margin This Thin Means for a Field

While five years can be shown, the routes that turn on a shortfall stay shut. Policy S5 of the August 2026 framework reaches land outside a settlement, served by infrastructure and well related to that settlement, where unmet need is evidenced; a delivery result under 75% is treated as that evidence, while a supply under five years is evidence for the decision maker to weigh rather than an automatic finding. The Green Belt is outside S5 altogether, and grey belt there has its own need test, usually met by a supply under five years or a result under 75%, with the Golden Rules on larger schemes. With 115% and 5 years, neither is met today. We make no forecast, but the margin matters. The 1,584.6 homes are the council's own judgement of what will be built in time, and at an appeal a developer may argue that some will come later. Take out a single home and the supply no longer covers the 1,584 required, so five years could not be shown; under the March buffer nearly 200 could have gone. New permissions counted in a later statement work the other way.

The 2026 Plan: 264 Homes a Year, Then 314

The Cannock Chase Local Plan 2018 to 2040 replaced the Local Plan (Part 1) of June 2014. Policy SO3.1 plans for a minimum of 5,808 homes to meet the district's own need, averaging 264 a year in the five years after adoption, and a further 500 towards the shortfall in the wider housing market area. The plan was submitted in November 2024, before the new method took effect, and heard between May and July 2025. In his report of 5 March 2026 the inspector, Andrew McCormack, accepted 264 a year as the standard method figure of the time, rising to 314 a year from 2030: 6,308 homes in all.

Its main allocations, several of them taken out of the Green Belt:

Sources: report to Cannock Chase Full Council, 23 March 2026, and the inspector's report of March 2026.
Site	Where	What the plan provides
SH1 Land South of Lichfield Road	Cannock	About 700 homes and a primary school on the northern part, released from the Green Belt
SH2 Land East of Wimblebury Road	Heath Hayes	About 435 homes, released from the Green Belt
SH3 Land to the rear of Longford House, Watling Street	Urban edge of Cannock	About 45 homes, the undeveloped part released from the Green Belt
SH6 Former Hart School, Burnthill Road	Edge of Rugeley	Housing
SM1 Former Rugeley Power Station	Rugeley, across the boundary with Lichfield district	Residential led mixed use on previously developed land
SE1 and SE2	Kingswood Lakeside, Norton Canes, and Watling Street Business Park	Employment land taken out of the Green Belt

At the pre-submission stage the topic paper put the releases at 79 hectares, 1.6% of the district's Green Belt, justified because there were "insufficient non Green Belt sites" and because the 500 homes for the wider area were needed under the duty to cooperate. For the power station, which the supply statements show crossing into Lichfield district, the council's page describes outline application CH/19/201 for up to 2,300 homes, up to 5 hectares of employment land and a school; its planning committee voted on 15 January 2020 to approve it, subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement.

The Share for Birmingham and the Black Country

The 500 homes go towards the unmet need of the Greater Birmingham and Black Country Housing Market Area. The inspector called them a "limited yet meaningful contribution" and accepted the evidence for it; the rise to 314 a year is how the plan carries them. He also found the plan period to 2040 short of the 15 years from adoption national policy expects, and said "an early Plan review should be made".

A 15km Zone Around the Heathland, and a Set Charge for Each Home

Only a small part of the Chase is the Special Area of Conservation, but housing schemes within 15km of its boundary must allow for it. Since 1 April 2022 all relevant planning consents in that zone have been required to meet a contribution per home, set at £290.58 in 2022 and raised each year with indexation; for 2026 to 2027 it is £369.58 per unit. The council is part of a SAC partnership working to prevent damage to the site; the inspector described its strategic access management and monitoring measures as operating within an established zone of influence, and plan objective SO7.3 guards against any adverse impact on it. Objective SO7.5 protects the National Landscape from damaging or inappropriate development.

The contribution sits with Section 106, the Community Infrastructure Levy and biodiversity net gain as a cost known in advance, and a modest one; our guide to Section 106 and CIL explains the others.

Routes for Land Where Three Fifths Is Green Belt

With five years of supply and strong delivery, the main route for an open field is the local plan, but not the only one:

Inside the towns and villages. Plots, backland and redundant buildings in Cannock, Hednesford, Rugeley, Heath Hayes, Norton Canes or Brereton fall under policy S4, which favours approval and allows refusal only where harm would substantially outweigh benefits.
Previously developed land in the Green Belt. Old yards, depots, and sites carrying lawful non-agricultural buildings or hardstanding meet different Green Belt tests, whatever the supply says; our brownfield and yards page sets out what counts.
Grey belt. Land that does not strongly serve the Green Belt purposes can be grey belt, though for housing the need test is not met today. The grey belt guide explains the purposes and the Golden Rules.
Rural exception and small sites. Affordable homes for a local need, and small schemes at the villages, are judged on their own terms rather than on the five-year figure.
Through the new plan. The council keeps an open call for sites all year, and its scoping document says another will be run early in the new plan; fields needing a Green Belt change mostly come forward this way.

What the Council's Land Assessment Already Holds

The 2025 land availability assessment, base date 1 April 2024, shows where land has been put forward and how much is held back:

Source: Cannock Chase Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment 2025, table 4.1. The constrained column is not counted in the council's totals.
Area	Deliverable in the first five years	Developable in years 6 to 15	Green Belt, National Landscape or restricted
Cannock, Hednesford and Heath Hayes	326 homes	343 homes, plus 172 beyond the plan period	7,928 homes
Rugeley and Brereton	518 homes	1,059 homes, plus 137 beyond the plan period	1,441 homes
Norton Canes	19 homes	23 homes	3,950 homes
District	863 homes	1,425 homes, plus 309 beyond the plan period	13,319 homes

The constrained column is over five times the deliverable and developable land combined; around Norton Canes the contrast is sharpest: 42 homes on unconstrained land against 3,950 on constrained land.

A Plan to 2046, Timetabled for Adoption in April 2029

The council gave notice on 26 June 2026 that it was starting a Local Plan for 2026 to 2046 under the government's new system, and its scoping consultation ran from 3 August to 14 September 2026. It says the plan "will be required to plan for 522 dwellings per annum", a 97.7% increase, and that the Green Belt assessment is being updated. The March report's 527 and the scoping document's 522 are both the standard method, most likely on different years' data; either is roughly double 264. The council's timetable, last updated on 23 September 2026, sets out what follows:

From the Cannock Chase Local Plan 2026 to 2046 timetable. Dates are the council's and may move.
Stage	Council's timetable
Gateway 1 self-assessment	October 2026
Vision and strategic options consultation	May to June 2027
Proposed draft plan consultation	February to March 2028
Gateway 3 and submission	July to August 2028
Examination	October 2028 to March 2029
Adoption	April 2029

A Supply Still Counted From March 2025

The July update kept the base date of 31 March 2025; national policy expects supply to be updated each year, so a statement on a later base date is the next thing to watch, though the council has given no date for it. The Housing Delivery Test, refreshed each year, puts the district at 115%, clear of the 95% line. The yardstick is the plan's own stepped figure, 264 homes a year to 2030 and 314 from 2030; the plan turns five in March 2031, when national policy replaces a requirement that old with the standard method unless a new plan has taken over. Reorganisation for Staffordshire's councils is covered on our Staffordshire page.

Land inside the towns, yards and previously developed land can be looked at now.
Open Green Belt fields are best readied for the call for sites and the vision consultation the timetable puts in May to June 2027.
Possible grey belt is worth assessing now, so that its evidence is ready if the supply moves.

Questions About Land in Cannock Chase

My Green Belt field near Norton Canes: is there any route while the council has five years?

Mostly through the new plan. The council's assessment holds far more constrained land around Norton Canes than unconstrained, and the new plan must find nearly twice as many homes a year, so a well evidenced submission is the way in. Any previously developed part may have a route now.

Why is supply measured against 264 homes a year when the government's figure is higher?

The plan was submitted before the December 2024 method took effect, so for five years after adoption its own figure is the measure. Since 1 July 2026 a 20% buffer has been added for decisions, which is why the July 2026 margin was so small.

Does the SAC payment stop a small scheme in Hednesford working?

Rarely. For 2026 to 2027 it is £369.58 for each new home, a fixed sum known before any appraisal, and we allow for it from the start.

Is land inside the National Landscape near Brereton worth asking about?

Yes, though the bar is high: almost all of it is also Green Belt, so both tests apply. Previously developed land or plots within the village are the likeliest routes, and our review says plainly if a field is not realistic.

Will the new plan release more Green Belt around Cannock and Heath Hayes?

Nothing is decided. The scoping document puts the need at 522 homes a year and says the Green Belt assessment is being updated; where land goes is for the vision and draft plan stages. Having a site and its evidence ready before May 2027 is the sensible aim.

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 Cannock Chase

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

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.