Selling Land in Wiltshire

• 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.

1. 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.
2. A free desktop review. Within a few days we look at your land, the planning position in Wiltshire and the routes open to it, and tell you plainly whether it suits us. The review is free and confidential, with no obligation.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

National Landscapes

The Cotswolds National Landscape covers the north west of the county around Castle Combe and Box. The North Wessex Downs cover the chalk downs around Marlborough, Pewsey and the Kennet valley. Cranborne Chase covers the downland south west of Salisbury. Major development inside them is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, and land in their setting is assessed for its effect on views.

Salisbury Plain

Salisbury Plain is the largest military training area in the UK and is protected as a Special Protection Area for ground-nesting birds, particularly the stone curlew. New homes within 6.4 km of the protected area, including in Amesbury, Tidworth, Ludgershall, Warminster, Westbury and Devizes, fall under a recreation mitigation strategy. The Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site also covers land west of Amesbury and around Avebury.

River Avon Phosphates

The Hampshire Avon, which flows through Salisbury, is a Special Area of Conservation, and new homes in its catchment must show they will not add phosphorus to it. Wiltshire Council runs a strategic mitigation scheme, charged per kilogram of phosphorus, and homes in the affected catchments must be built to use no more than 110 litres of water per person per day. Smaller parts of the county drain to the River Lambourn and the Somerset Levels, where similar rules apply, and a small area drains to the River Test, where nitrogen rules for the Solent apply. These costs affect viability, so we check the catchment early.

Bats Around Trowbridge and Westbury

Woodland around Trowbridge and Westbury supports bats linked to the Bath and Bradford on Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation. A mitigation strategy adopted in July 2025 sets out zones and financial contributions for new homes. Some land close to the main roost is effectively off limits. Elsewhere, a scheme can usually proceed with the right mitigation.

Green Belt and Flood Risk

A small part of the Bristol and Bath Green Belt reaches into west Wiltshire around Bradford on Avon. The Bristol Avon flows through Malmesbury, Chippenham, Melksham and Bradford on Avon, and the Hampshire Avon, Wylye and Nadder meet at Salisbury. Our guides to grey belt and flood risk explain how each is assessed.

For an owner selling land in Wiltshire, the catchment and the nearest protected site often matter as much as planning policy: phosphates around Salisbury, recreation pressure on Salisbury Plain and the bat woodlands near Trowbridge each bring a cost to work into a scheme, and only close to the main bat roost do they usually rule land out.

Neither Wiltshire nor Swindon is below 75%, so unmet need is not simply assumed. But both are short of five years of land, which counts under policy S5 as evidence of it to weigh, though not an automatic finding. Both plans are old, and Wiltshire has had to start its new plan again. That makes the next two to three years an important window for putting land forward. The main routes are:

1. An application under policy S5. Land that sits well against a town or larger village, with services that can cope, can be put forward now while supply is short. Inside settlement boundaries, policy S4 leans towards approval.
2. The new Wiltshire Local Plan. The council has only just begun. Land put forward with good evidence at the early stages has the best chance of being considered. The process is explained in our call for sites guide.
3. Neighbourhood plans. Wiltshire has a large number of made neighbourhood plans, and many allocate sites. A parish updating its plan can be a realistic route for smaller sites.
4. The new Swindon Local Plan. Its final draft is out for comment until 5 November 2026, and land on the edge of Swindon and in the surrounding villages will be tested through it.
5. Previously developed land. Former farmyards, workshops and commercial sites, which national policy supports inside and outside settlements.
6. Sites near stations. National policy now supports higher density homes within walking distance of well-connected stations. Whether Swindon, Chippenham or a smaller station qualifies depends on its service and travel-to-work area.

Wiltshire needs patience and a partner who understands its extra layers of mitigation. Those costs are real, but under our agreements they are not yours to pay. Our guide to biodiversity net gain covers the separate 10% requirement.