Worcestershire council area
Selling Land in Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove adjoins the southern edge of Birmingham, and about nine tenths of it is Green Belt. The council must find land for more than 9,000 extra homes by 2043, it built 58% of the homes it needed in the latest Housing Delivery Test, and it has restarted its plan under the new national system.
- 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
Bromsgrove at a Glance
Bromsgrove District Council covers the town of Bromsgrove and the villages between it and the southern edge of Birmingham, which the district adjoins at Frankley. The council's own review papers name Alvechurch, Barnt Green, Catshill, Hagley, Rubery and Wythall as its larger centres after the town, and Stoke Prior is among the villages its 2025 strategy looked to for growth.
- 58% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025. The district built 694 homes against a requirement of 1,195 over the three years measured.
- About 90% Green Belt. That is the council's own figure, taken from its plan consultation documents.
- No five-year supply. The council says it cannot currently show a five-year supply of housing land, and accepts that this brings pressure from speculative applications.
- A plan restarted. After a draft development strategy in 2025, the council began again under the 2026 plan-making regulations, publishing its timetable on 29 June 2026. A scoping consultation on what the plan should cover ran from 24 July to 4 September 2026.
- A new council from 2028. On 16 July 2026 the government confirmed that Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest will form a North Worcestershire unitary council from April 2028.
For most owners here, the open question is not whether homes are needed, but which fields national policy and the council will accept for them.
Bromsgrove in Figures
The government's latest figures for the council, and where its local plan stands.
Housing Delivery Test 2025
58%
Below 75%: treated as having evidenced unmet housing need under national policy S5.
Homes built against homes needed
694
of 1,195 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
January 2017
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
Updated
New plan in preparation; draft plan expected summer 2027
Checked source
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.
Finding Room for 12,155 Homes
The draft development strategy, consulted on from 30 June to 20 October 2025, set out the size of the task. The council needs land for 12,155 homes by 2043. Around 3,000 of those are already covered by permissions and existing allocations, which leaves just over 9,000 still to place. Of more than 400 sites assessed, only 26 were brownfield. Six outside the Green Belt could yield around 136 homes and four inside it 35, giving 171 with the potential for 16 more, so the council concluded that brownfield land alone could not meet the need.
To avoid swamping its villages, the strategy proposed one large location at Frankley, next to Birmingham, alongside growth at Bromsgrove town and six other settlements:
| Settlement | Indicative homes in the 2025 draft strategy |
|---|---|
| Frankley | 3,000 |
| Bromsgrove town | 2,570 |
| Wythall | 1,235 |
| Catshill | 605 |
| Hagley | 530 |
| Alvechurch | 500 |
| Stoke Prior | 500 |
| Barnt Green | 340 |
The council's launch announcement described a 12 week consultation closing on 22 September 2025. Its FAQ and later updates give 20 October, the date it now reports, so older material may show either. These were proposals for comment, not decisions. The council received around 8,000 responses, has published a summary for each of the eight settlements, and is now carrying out a revised Green Belt assessment before any sites are chosen. A draft plan is expected for consultation in summer 2027.
Land That Was Not on the 2025 List
The 21 draft sites were drawn from roughly 400 proposals, so most land put forward did not feature. Because the Green Belt evidence is being redone and no site decisions have been taken, the picture is more open than that ratio suggests. What counts before the 2027 draft is a site that has its evidence in order: transport, drainage, ecology, landscape and a layout that shows how many homes it can hold. We commission and pay for all of that.
Grey Belt in a District That Is Nearly All Green Belt
A 58% result means Bromsgrove is treated nationally as having evidenced unmet housing need. The route that normally follows from that, policy S5 of the August 2026 NPPF, cannot be used on Green Belt land, and here that excludes almost every field beyond the settlements. The council's own consultation material accepts that some of the district's Green Belt is now likely to be classed as grey belt. In practice there are three ways in:
- Grey belt. This is Green Belt land that does little for three of the Green Belt's purposes: holding back the spread of the conurbation, keeping neighbouring towns apart, and protecting the setting of historic towns. In a district where the town and villages sit close to Birmingham, to Redditch and to each other, the judgement often turns on the gaps between them. A field hemmed in by a motorway, a railway and houses reads very differently from one in the middle of an open gap.
- Previously developed land. With so little brownfield land in the district, a lawful yard, depot or former commercial site in the Green Belt stands out. Buildings used for farming do not count.
- Land inside the settlements. Where a town or village is drawn out of the Green Belt, policy S4 supports development within it unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits. Bromsgrove town and the larger centres are the obvious places to look, and we check the policies map for each site.
Homes on grey belt land must also meet the Golden Rules on affordable housing, infrastructure and accessible green space. The council's 2025 consultation FAQ says that under current government policy half of the new housing will be affordable. That, together with road, school and health contributions, comes off what a scheme can support, so we build it into our assessment from day one. Our grey belt guide sets out the test.
Between Birmingham and Redditch
The council's 2018 review paper records that the two councils cooperated to allocate land inside Bromsgrove district, on Redditch's boundary, to meet Redditch's housing needs. At Foxlydiate, a cross-boundary scheme mostly inside Bromsgrove district with a small part in Redditch borough, both councils issued permission, and a Section 106 agreement worth more than £18 million was reached in January 2022 for up to 2,560 homes, paying for transport, education, health and green infrastructure. Frankley was put forward in 2025 because the council judged that placing all of its need in its own villages could change their scale and character fundamentally.
The council has also made clear that Birmingham and the other neighbouring authorities cannot take Bromsgrove's own need. Their brownfield land, although far larger than Bromsgrove's, is needed to meet their own targets.
The 2025 strategy lists flood alleviation, drainage and biodiversity net gain among the infrastructure new homes would need, and the council has said an Infrastructure Delivery Plan will set out phasing and costs as the plan progresses.
The Move to North Worcestershire
From April 2028 Bromsgrove will be part of a new North Worcestershire council with Redditch and Wyre Forest. With the draft plan not due until summer 2027, it is likely to be the new council that takes it through examination to adoption. Existing plans normally remain in force until they are replaced, so the 2017 Bromsgrove District Plan and national policy will keep deciding applications in the meantime.
Motorways, Stations and Brooks
| Local factor | What it can mean for your land |
|---|---|
| The M5 (junctions 4, 4a and 5) and the M42 (junctions 1 to 3) | Fast links to Birmingham support demand. Motorway noise and air quality shape layouts on land close to the carriageway. |
| Stations at Bromsgrove, Barnt Green, Alvechurch, Hagley and Wythall | National policy favours homes within reasonable walking distance of well-connected stations. |
| Long-term transport ideas in the 2025 strategy | The council listed a new M5 junction south west of Bromsgrove town and a new station near Stoke Prior as possible long-term options. Neither is committed, but both would change how nearby land relates to the network. |
| Spadesbourne Brook and Battlefield Brook, both named in the 2025 strategy | Flood zones follow these and other watercourses. They tend to decide where homes, roads and drainage basins sit rather than ruling out whole fields. Our flood risk guide explains the sequential test. |
We cover every one of these points in our first desktop look at a site, so that you know early whether anything is likely to cap the number of homes.
Land That Suits Our Approach in Bromsgrove
- Fields on the edge of Bromsgrove town, Catshill, Wythall, Hagley, Alvechurch, Barnt Green or Stoke Prior, the places the council has already named for growth.
- Green Belt land enclosed by the M5, the M42, a railway or existing housing, where its contribution to the Green Belt purposes may be limited.
- Lawful yards, depots and former commercial premises, which are scarce in the district.
- Land within a reasonable walk of Bromsgrove, Barnt Green, Alvechurch or Hagley stations.
- Larger holdings with room for affordable homes, open space and new infrastructure inside the scheme.
- Gardens, paddocks and plots within the town and villages, where policy S4 applies.
If a field sits in the open gap between two villages, or out in open countryside well away from a settlement, we will tell you honestly how hard that case would be. Where the prospects are good, we agree a fixed price at the outset, pay for the whole planning process, and complete the purchase once planning permission has been secured. You carry on using the land until then. The full sequence is on our how it works page.
Questions From Bromsgrove Landowners
The council has no five-year supply and scored 58%. Can a field of mine just go in for planning?
In the Green Belt, those shortfalls do not open the S5 route on their own. The land would need to qualify as grey belt or previously developed land, and then meet the Golden Rules. Inside the town and any village drawn out of the Green Belt, policy S4 applies instead. Working out which of these fits your land is the first thing we do.
I put land forward in 2025 and it was not one of the draft sites. Is that the end of it?
No. The council has not chosen sites yet and is reworking its Green Belt assessment. The draft plan in summer 2027 is the next point where choices are made public, and a site with full technical evidence behind it is in a much stronger position then.
Will the new North Worcestershire council change what happens to my land?
It changes who decides, from April 2028, rather than the rules. The current plan and national policy continue to apply until a new plan replaces them, and the plan now being prepared is expected to pass to the new council.
Half the homes being affordable sounds like a lot. Where does that leave the value of my land?
Affordable housing, infrastructure payments and green space are costs every Green Belt scheme carries, and they are reflected in what any site can support. We allow for them before we agree a price. Our guide to Section 106 and CIL explains how these contributions work.
Does land allocated for Redditch reduce what Bromsgrove must find?
Not as the council describes it. Its 2018 review paper records land in Bromsgrove allocated to meet Redditch's needs, while the 12,155 homes in the 2025 strategy are Bromsgrove's own Local Housing Need. The council has also said its neighbours need their own brownfield land for their targets, so that need has to be met within the district.
Tell Us About Your Land in Bromsgrove
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More in Worcestershire
County overview
Selling Land in Worcestershire
Selling land in Worcestershire? Housing delivery and plan status for six councils, the West Midlands Green Belt, the Malvern Hills, the Severn and growth areas.
Sources
- Bromsgrove District Council: Emerging local plan latest news
- Bromsgrove District Council: Council invites views on development strategy
- Bromsgrove District Council: Development Strategy consultation document, June 2025
- Bromsgrove District Council: Development Strategy frequently asked questions
- Bromsgrove District Council: Issues and options consultation document
- Bromsgrove Standard: Worcestershire to get north and south councils
- Bromsgrove Standard: £18m Foxlydiate agreement reached
We update this page when new Housing Delivery Test results or local plan milestones are published. Planning positions change quickly, so always check the council's own website before relying on it.