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Guides

Guides for Landowners

Plain-English explanations of the planning, legal and tax questions landowners ask us most, checked against current rules and updated when they change.

How to Read These Guides

There are 15 guides, and nobody needs all of them. Each one stands on its own, but they build on each other, and most landowners get the most from reading them in roughly this order:

  1. How the deals work. What you would sign, how you are paid and who carries the risk.
  2. How planning could happen. National policy, the local plan and a realistic timetable.
  3. What could get in the way. Access, flooding, tenancies, ecology and anything specific to your land.
  4. What you keep. Fees, deductions, overage and tax.

The reading paths below follow that order for five common situations. Pick the closest one and skip anything that clearly does not apply to you.

Where to Start

Pick the situation closest to yours.

  • I Have Just Received a Letter

    Start with who we are and why we wrote, then read how option agreements work.

    Why we wrote to you

  • I Want to Know What My Land Is Worth

    Read how land value is worked out, then ask for a free review.

    How land value works

  • I Want to Understand the Agreement

    How an option works from signing to completion, and what happens on your land in between.

    Option agreements explained

  • I Have Inherited Land

    Probate, co-owners and the tax points that matter when you sell.

    Probate and selling land

  • My Land Is in the Green Belt

    How grey belt works and whether your land might qualify.

    Grey belt explained

  • My Land Is Let to a Farmer

    How tenancies affect a sale and how vacant possession is obtained.

    Tenancies and vacant possession

Reading Paths for Different Landowners

Fields on the Edge of a Town or Village

  1. Option agreements explained: the most common way land like yours is taken forward.
  2. The new NPPF: when homes can now be approved outside settlement boundaries.
  3. Call for sites and local plans: the other route, through the council's plan.
  4. How long planning takes: realistic timescales for each route.
  5. Access and ransom strips and flood risk: the two issues that most often decide whether a field works.

Land in the Green Belt

  1. Grey belt land explained: whether your land could qualify, and the Golden Rules that follow.
  2. Call for sites and local plans: how councils review Green Belt boundaries when they prepare a plan.
  3. Option agreements explained: how a deal would be structured.

Inherited Land, or Land Held by Executors

  1. Probate and selling land: who can sign, and what has to happen first.
  2. Tax when selling land for development: Capital Gains Tax, inheritance tax and the reliefs that changed in April 2026.
  3. Tenancies and vacant possession: if the land is let or grazed by someone else.

Understanding the Money Side

  1. Option agreements explained: how an option works, from signing to completion.
  2. Promotion agreements: fees and deductions: how a share of the sale price turns into what you receive.
  3. Overage explained: what overage is, and what to do if your land already carries one.
  4. Section 106 and CIL explained: the council's charges that come out of every land price.
  5. Biodiversity Net Gain: a cost that varies a lot from one field to the next.

Farm Buildings and Old Yards

  1. Class Q: converting agricultural buildings to homes without a full planning application.
  2. The new NPPF: how previously developed land and land inside settlements are now treated.
  3. Grey belt land explained: if the yard is in the Green Belt.

If you have had a letter from us, read received a letter? first. It explains why we wrote about your land and what happens if you get in touch.

Agreements and Money

Planning Policy

Practical Issues

How We Keep These Guides Accurate

Planning and tax rules change often. In the last two years alone, the government has rewritten the National Planning Policy Framework, introduced grey belt, changed Biodiversity Net Gain for small sites, raised Capital Gains Tax rates and capped Agricultural and Business Property Relief. Advice written before those changes can be badly wrong now.

Each guide shows the date it was last reviewed and lists the official sources it relies on, so you can check them yourself. We review every guide at least every six months, and sooner when the rules change. Where a guide touches on tax or law, it is general information rather than advice, and we say so.

If you spot something that has changed, or a question these guides do not answer, tell us. The most useful guides started as questions from landowners.

Look Up a Term

Planning and land sales come with their own vocabulary: allocation, hope value, overage, Section 106, vacant possession and many more. Our land and planning glossary explains each one in a sentence or two, with links to the guide that covers it in depth.

Questions About the Guides

Which guide should I read first?

For most people, option agreements explained, because it describes what you would actually be asked to sign. If your land is in the Green Belt, start with grey belt instead.

Are the guides advice?

No. They are general information to help you understand how land, planning and tax work. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to your solicitor, land agent or accountant. If you go ahead with us, we contribute to your solicitor's and land agent's fees.

Can I share them with my family or my advisers?

Yes. They are written to be passed around, and families often find it easier to talk things through once everyone has read the same guide.

Do the guides only describe your way of doing things?

No. They explain options, promotion agreements and outright sales, and the planning and tax rules behind them. Where we mention how we work, it is in a short section near the end.

What if my question is not covered?

Ask us. We can usually answer by phone or email, and if the question comes up often we add it to a guide. Contact us.

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