6 ways to sell land

Attention landowners. If you’re selling land, of course you will want to make the most of this opportunity, but there are a range of options available, particularly when your land has development potential.

We can help.

Here are six suggestions from our rural property experts. If you’re not sure about any of these points, just give us a call on 01509 243720.

1. Obtain planning consent before selling. This will be attractive to the buyer, maximising the value, but don’t forget you will need to fund the costs of the planning application yourself.
2. Sell on a conditional contract. If you have smaller areas of land where development is likely, this could be an option for you. Conditional contracts are when the sale price is agreed and contracts are exchanged with the buyer, but the sale is only complete once your buyer obtains planning consent. Make sure your contract specifies timescales so it doesn’t go on and on.
3. Grant an Option Agreement to a developer. If the land has future development potential, an Option Agreement will mean the land remains in your ownership while the developer applies for planning consent. If successful, the developer can purchase the land at a discount to market value less their costs – protecting you against the costs of an unsuccessful application.
4. Enter into a promotion agreement. Here, the developer or promoter pursues the planning consent and, if they are successful, the land is sold on the open market with the promoter receiving a share of the sale proceeds and their costs.
5. Sale subject to an uplift agreement. This is typically used where there is no immediate development potential. But, if development does go ahead during the uplift provision period (usually 25-50 years), the original owner receives a percentage of uplift in value of the land. This is useful for land that has longer term potential.
6. Sale subject to a restrictive covenant. Development is prohibited, and, theoretically, the new owner wishing to break this agreement would need to pay for its release. However, covenants are open to challenge and may not be binding in the long term.

As you might have realised by now, there are lots of options to maximise value for your land. It can be a tricky process to navigate yourself, so if you are considering selling your land – speak to one of our rural experts on 01509 243720 or email propertyprofessionals@andrewgranger.co.uk