Areas we cover
Selling Land in Suffolk
Checked on
Mid Suffolk and Babergh have built far beyond their targets on a joint plan that allocated no new sites, East Suffolk and West Suffolk fall just short on delivery, and Ipswich is well below. With no Green Belt around any Suffolk town, the questions for land here are supply, the protected coast and heaths, and the councils' new plans.
- 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 Suffolk and welcome land of every kind in all five of its council areas: fields and paddocks, inherited land, old yards and larger holdings.
Two of Suffolk's five 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 table shows each council's result in the government's Housing Delivery Test 2025, its latest five-year land supply and where its local plan stands.
| Council | Housing Delivery Test 2025 | Five-year land supply | Most recent strategic plan adopted | New plan progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babergh | 147% | 5.34 yearsAt April 2025: Babergh District Council: Five-Year Housing Land Supply Position Statement 2025 (January 2026) | November 2023 | Joint Local Plan Part 1 adopted November 2023; new joint plan scoping consultation held 5 June to 31 July 2026, timetable puts adoption on 1 April 2029Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| East Suffolk | 91%Action plan | 3.07 yearsShort of five yearsAt March 2025: East Suffolk Council: Statement of Housing Land Supply as at 31 March 2025 (December 2025) | September 2020 | Call for sites for a new Local Plan held 20 October 2025 to 9 January 2026; the council anticipates adoption in 2029Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Ipswich | 63%Below 75%: unmet need | 3.46 yearsShort of five yearsAt April 2024: Ipswich Borough Council: Ipswich Local Plan Authority Monitoring Report 2024 to 2025 (March 2026) | March 2022 | New Local Plan timetable published 25 June 2026; scoping consultation held 8 July to 2 September 2026, timetable puts adoption on 1 April 2029Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| Mid Suffolk | 227% | 7.7 yearsAt April 2025: Mid Suffolk District Council: Five-Year Housing Land Supply Position Statement 2025 (January 2026) | November 2023 | Joint Local Plan Part 1 adopted November 2023; new joint plan scoping consultation held 5 June to 31 July 2026, timetable puts adoption on 1 April 2029Checked September 2026 on the council or government website |
| West Suffolk | 89%Action plan | 6.02 yearsAt April 2026: West Suffolk Council: Assessment of the supply of housing land in West Suffolk (August 2026) | July 2025 | Local Plan adopted 15 July 2025; Local Plan 2045 scoping consultation held June to July 2026, timetable puts adoption in May 2029Checked 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.
Ipswich
Ipswich Borough Council adopted its Local Plan Review, covering 2018 to 2036, in March 2022. The council's monitoring report for 2024 to 2025 counts the plan's requirement at 300 homes a year to 2024 and 540 after that, and sets supply at 3.46 years at 1 April 2024: 2,157 deliverable homes against 2,965 needed once a 265-home shortfall is added, before a 5% buffer. Ipswich Garden Suburb, planned for up to 3,500 homes, supplies 786 of those 2,157: 605 with permission, 28 accepted in principle and 153 from the rest of the allocation. The council says it will move to an April 2026 base, and with delivery at 63% that calculation needs a 20% buffer. Five years after adoption, the plan's requirement gives way to the government's standard method in that sum. A scoping consultation on the new plan, for 2026 to 2045, ran from 8 July to 2 September 2026, and the council's timetable gives an indicative adoption date of 1 April 2029.
Babergh and Mid Suffolk
Babergh's main towns are Sudbury, Hadleigh and Pinewood; Mid Suffolk's are Stowmarket, Needham Market and Eye. Their Joint Local Plan Part 1, adopted in November 2023, plans to 2037 for at least 416 homes a year in Babergh and 535 in Mid Suffolk, figures set by the standard method of the time. It allocated no sites, because existing permissions already covered the vast majority of each district's requirement, and it did not review settlement boundaries. Both were left for a Part 2, which has given way to a full new plan.
Mid Suffolk counts 7.7 years of land. Babergh has two supply figures, both from the council's own numbers. Its statement of January 2026 finds 5.34 years at 1 April 2025: 2,334 deliverable homes against 2,184 needed, which is 416 a year plus the 5% buffer that its 164% in the 2023 delivery test allowed. The statement puts need by the standard method at 779 a year and notes that from July 2026 a 20% buffer applies, whatever the delivery record, where a plan's figure is 80% or less of that need. Adopted in November 2023, the plan was examined under a framework older than December 2024, and 416 is about 53% of 779, so decisions now carry the 20% buffer. By our arithmetic on the statement's figures, that raises the requirement to 2,496, which the 2,334 cover for about 4.68 years, 162 homes short. The gap is one of timing: the statement was written before the rule took effect. For a landowner, the lower figure is the one that applies to an application today, as evidence of unmet need to be weighed under policy S5, not an automatic finding.
The councils' timetable for the new joint plan, published on 3 June 2026, set a scoping consultation to 31 July 2026, a consultation on content and evidence from 1 January to 1 February 2027 and adoption on 1 April 2029.
East Suffolk
East Suffolk still works from two plans, one for the Suffolk Coastal area and one for Waveney. Its housing land statement at 31 March 2025 records that the Waveney plan turned five on 20 March 2024 and the Suffolk Coastal plan on 23 September 2025. Reviews in March 2025 and September 2025 concluded that both need updating. Supply is therefore measured against the government's standard method, which raised East Suffolk's need from 905 homes a year to 1,667 on data released in June 2025. On that basis the council finds 3.07 years, with 5,368 deliverable homes against 8,752 needed, and both plan areas fall short. The statement anticipates a new East Suffolk Local Plan being adopted in 2029.
West Suffolk
West Suffolk's Local Plan 2024 to 2041, adopted in July 2025, provides for 13,005 homes, 765 a year. The inspectors' report lists allocations led by Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill. Despite delivery of 89%, the council's assessment of August 2026 finds 6.02 years of land from 1 April 2026. The inspectors examined the plan under the September 2023 framework and said the council will be expected to update it at the earliest opportunity, because the December 2024 method indicates significantly greater need. The assessment puts that need at 1,185 homes a year, which makes 765 some 65% of it, so it applies the 20% buffer that national policy now requires for decisions in that position: 765 a year for five years, plus an 87-home shortfall, lifted by 20% to about 4,694 homes, against 5,658 deliverable homes. So the district shows more than five years even on the stricter test. The council's timetable for a new plan to 2045, published in June 2026, shows a consultation on its content and evidence in May and June 2027 and adoption in May 2029.
The Land We Look for in Suffolk
- Fields of 2 acres or more next to a town or a larger village.
- Land on the edge of Ipswich, whichever council it falls in.
- Sites mostly in Flood Zone 1, above the river valleys and marshes.
- Land with a road frontage, or a clear route to one.
- Former yards, depots, farm buildings and other previously developed land.
- Holdings of 20 acres or more near Bury St Edmunds, Stowmarket, Sudbury or the East Suffolk towns.
If your land is in a National Landscape, near the Brecks or close to the protected estuaries, it is not ruled out, but the bar is higher. We will say so plainly in our review, and our page on farmland sets out how we look at a working holding.
The planning detail in full
Five Councils, No Green Belt and New Plans Under Way
Five councils decide planning applications in Suffolk: Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk and West Suffolk. Suffolk County Council looks after highways, schools, minerals and waste. Ipswich and the three councils around it plan cross-boundary growth together through the Ipswich Strategic Planning Area. Inside the Broads, the Broads Authority decides applications. No Green Belt is drawn around any Suffolk town.
- Ipswich is below 75%. It delivered 677 homes against a requirement of 1,068 in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, a result of 63%, so unmet housing need is treated as evidenced.
- Two councils need action plans. East Suffolk scored 91% and West Suffolk 89%: below 95%, but above the 85% line that adds a 20% buffer.
- Babergh and Mid Suffolk are far ahead. Babergh delivered 147% of its requirement and Mid Suffolk 227%, the highest in Suffolk.
- Supply does not follow delivery. East Suffolk counts 3.07 years of land and Ipswich 3.46 years. The other three report five years or more, though Babergh falls below five once the 20% buffer that has applied to decisions since 1 July 2026 is added.
- Reorganisation withdrawn. On 7 September 2026 the government withdrew its decisions on Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and launched a review. The May 2027 elections use existing boundaries.
What Shapes Planning in Suffolk
No Green Belt, So No Grey Belt
The government's Green Belt statistics list sixteen Green Belts in England, and none is drawn around a Suffolk town. Policy S5, which does not apply in the Green Belt, can therefore reach settlement edges across the county wherever need is evidenced, while grey belt and its Golden Rules do not arise.
The Coast, the Estuaries and RAMS
The Stour and Orwell, Deben and Alde-Ore estuaries, Minsmere to Walberswick and the Sandlings heaths are among the coastal sites protected for their birds. Visitor pressure from new homes is managed through the Suffolk Coast RAMS, which covers East Suffolk, Ipswich, Babergh and Mid Suffolk and the small part of East Suffolk where the Broads Authority decides applications. Its zone runs 13 kilometres around the sites and takes in the whole northern part of the former Waveney district, for little terns nesting outside them. From 6 April 2026 the tariff is £150.27 per new home in Zone A and £396.01 in Zone B, index linked each April. Across the Stour, Essex runs a separate scheme, covered on our Essex page.
Two National Landscapes Reaching Into Babergh
The joint plan records that Babergh lies partly in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths and the Dedham Vale National Landscapes, then called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Major development inside a National Landscape is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and land in its setting is judged on its effect on views and character.
The Brecks and the Stone Curlew
Part of the Breckland Special Protection Area lies in West Suffolk, and the stone curlew is the bird its plan singles out. Policy SP7 sets buffer zones between the protected area and new homes, with mitigation where development could disturb the birds or take land outside the boundary that they rely on, and policy SP8 deals with recreational pressure. Brandon receives a single allocation of about 20 homes, and land around it needs an early ecological check.
Sizewell C
On 22 July 2025 the government confirmed its final investment decision on Sizewell C, at around £38 billion in 2024 prices, with 2,600 local construction jobs in Suffolk at peak. For land nearby, we check its relation to the works and their traffic routes first.
Estuary Valleys and the Sequential Test
The Stour, Orwell, Deben and Alde reach the sea through estuaries, with flood plain along their valleys. Homes on land in Flood Zones 2 and 3 must pass the sequential test, and our guide to flood risk explains how a site with a wet corner can still work.
Where Growth Is Focused
The A14 links the port of Felixstowe with Cambridge by way of Ipswich, Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket. The areas we watch most closely are:
| Area | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Ipswich and its fringe | The lowest delivery in the county and Ipswich Garden Suburb, with the town's edges split between four councils. |
| Bury St Edmunds | The largest allocations in the West Suffolk plan, about 4,045 homes across six sites. |
| Haverhill | About 3,560 homes allocated on three sites. |
| Mildenhall and Newmarket | About 2,340 homes allocated between them, with the Brecks near Mildenhall and the racing industry around Newmarket. |
| Stowmarket and Needham Market | Mid Suffolk's towns on the A14, in the district with the strongest delivery in the county. |
| Sudbury and Hadleigh | Babergh's market towns, where the 20% buffer rule matters for decisions. |
| East Suffolk | Supply short of five years in both plan areas, and a standard method figure of 1,667 homes a year for the new plan to address. |
The West Suffolk inspectors call Newmarket the home of horse racing, with more racehorses, trainers, stud farms and racing organisations around it than anywhere else in the world.
What This Means for Your Land
The route turns first on which council decides the land:
- Evidenced unmet need in Ipswich. Within the borough, a result below 75% means unmet need is treated as evidenced under policy S5. A site on the town's edge with the infrastructure to serve it should get permission unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits.
- A supply shortfall in East Suffolk. At 3.07 years, the shortfall is evidence of unmet need to be weighed under S5, not an automatic finding.
- Babergh in decisions. On the arithmetic above, Babergh is below five years once the 20% buffer is applied. That is evidence to weigh, not an automatic finding, but well related land on the edge of Sudbury, Hadleigh and the larger villages can make its case.
- Inside built-up areas everywhere. Policy S4 approves development inside settlements unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits.
- The local plan, especially in Mid Suffolk and West Suffolk. Both score above 75% and show more than five years of land on plans adopted in the last five years, and West Suffolk stays above five even with the 20% buffer. Neither of the usual measures of unmet need applies there, so larger holdings look to the new plans, alongside rural exception and small sites. Our guide to calls for sites and plan stages explains how land gets into a plan.
- Council position
- 91% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, with 3.07 years of land against the government's figure
- Constraints
- No Green Belt, outside the National Landscapes, mostly Flood Zone 1, inside the RAMS zone
- Likely route
- An application under policy S5 weighing the shortfall, with the land also put forward to the new East Suffolk 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, 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.
The same field in Mid Suffolk would most likely wait for the new joint plan, and one near Brandon would first face the stone curlew buffers. Our option agreements guide explains how our agreements work.
Questions About Suffolk
My field adjoins Ipswich but is in Babergh. Does Ipswich's low result help?
Not directly. The result applies to land that Ipswich Borough Council decides. A field over the boundary is judged on its own council's position, which in Babergh means its supply and the 20% buffer that applies to decisions.
What is the Suffolk Coast RAMS payment?
A charge on each new home within reach of the protected coast, used to manage visitor pressure on its birds. It is set per home by zone, rises each April, and is normally met by the developer.
I farm near Brandon. Can land in the Brecks ever get planning?
It is harder. The West Suffolk plan sets buffer zones around the Breckland Special Protection Area for stone curlews, and Brandon has one small allocation. Land outside the buffers, or already built on, can still be worth a review.
Will the Suffolk reorganisation change who decides my application?
Not for now. The government withdrew its Suffolk decision on 7 September 2026 pending a review, and the May 2027 elections use the existing councils, whose plans still apply.
Mid Suffolk has more than five years of land. Is it worth talking to you?
Yes. The route is usually the new joint plan, and land put forward early with good evidence is better placed when sites are chosen. Plots inside villages and towns can be looked at now under policy S4.
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 Suffolk
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
- GOV.UK: Review of local government reorganisation launched (September 2026)
- GOV.UK: Local authority green belt, England 2024-25, statistical release (October 2025)
- Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils: Joint Local Plan Part 1 (November 2023)
- Babergh District Council: Local Plan Timetable (June 2026)
- Babergh District Council: Five-Year Housing Land Supply Position Statement 2025 (January 2026)
- East Suffolk Council: Statement of Housing Land Supply as at 31 March 2025 (December 2025)
- West Suffolk Council: West Suffolk Local Plan 2045 timetable (June 2026)
- Ipswich Borough Council: Ipswich Local Plan Authority Monitoring Report 2024 to 2025 (March 2026)
- Ipswich Borough Council: Local Plan Timetable (June 2026)
- West Suffolk Council: Assessment of the supply of housing land in West Suffolk (August 2026)
- Planning Inspectorate: Report on the examination of the West Suffolk Local Plan (July 2025)
- Ipswich Borough Council: Suffolk Coast Recreational Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (RAMS) (April 2026)
- UK Parliament, Hansard: New Nuclear, Sizewell C Investment (July 2025)
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.